[PROFILE] Half-brother of N. Korean leader lived in exile to avoid assassination attempt

By Park Sae-jin Posted : February 14, 2017, 23:12 Updated : February 14, 2017, 23:12

A file picture showing Kim Jong-nam in Beijing. [Yonhap News Photo]


Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of North Korea's late leader, has lived in exile abroad to avoid an assassination attempt since his younger paternal half-brother was upheld as heir apparent in September 2010.

The 45-year-old was born to Song Hye-rim, the first of three women known to have had children with his father who died in late 2011, paving the way for the third-generation succession of leadership in one of the world's most isolated countries.

In exile, Jong-nam has become known as a critic of the regime and an advocate for reform. Like his father, Jong-nam was interested in film when he was young, but his life has been up and down, though he was once trained to become a crown prince in the communist country.

He held a senior position at the Ministry of Public Security in 1998 and headed the Computer Committee in charge of developing an information technology industry. In January 2001, he accompanied his father to Shanghai.

Following a botched attempt to secretly enter Japan using a fake passport and visit Tokyo Disneyland in May 2001, he was thought to have fallen out of favor with his father. He was arrested at Japan's Narita International Airport accompanied by two women and a four-year-old son. After being detained for several days, he was deported.

The incident angered his father, but Jong-nam said he fell out of favor because he had become an advocate for reform after being educated in Switzerland.

After saying he had no interest in taking power, he has not returned home especially since his brother took power in late 2011 following the sudden death of their father. After paying his last respects to his father in Pyongyang, he returned to Macau without attending the funeral.

In a book released in 2012 by Japanese journalist Yoji Gomi, Jong-nam reportedly predicted the fall of his young brother, insisting that without reforms, North Korea would collapse. In late 2012, Jong-nam appeared in Singapore one year after leaving Macau.

Following the execution of his uncle Jang Song-Taek in December 2013 on charges including treason and corruption, Jong-nam has lived mainly in Southeast Asian countries. He has several children, including his eldest son Han-sol, 22, who is studying in France.

Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
 
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