I’m running Leap 42.1 and journalctl --verify reports many corrupted journal files.
The version of journalctl that is installed does not have a --vacuum option. It is not mentioned in the man pages, and attempts results in “unrecognized option”.
Is there a way of obtaining a new journalctl binary that has the --vacuum option?
Would simply removing the journal files with rm cause other problems?
Old journal files can be removed safely simply by navigating into the subdirectory contained in /var/log/journal/ and deleting as root or using sudo those files with dates older than you require.
What I would try first is smartctl -t long, then, if passed, an offline (rescue boot) forced fsck of the filesystem containing /var/log/journal/, and then delete and recreate /var/log/journal/, before booting 42.1 again.