Kim Jong-nam

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name = Kim Jong-nam
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birth_date = birth date and age|1971|5|10
birth_place = Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea
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birthname = Kim Jong-nam
nationality = North Korean
party = Workers' Party of Korea
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relations = Kim Jong-il (father) Song Hye-rim (mother) Kim Il-sung (grandfather)
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residence = Unknown
alma_mater = French Embassy, Moscow, Soviet Union
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military_data5 =Infobox Korean name|context=north
hangul=김정남
hanja=金正男
rr=Gim Jeong-nam
mr=Kim Chŏng-nam

Kim Jong-nam (born May 10, 1971, Pyongyang, North Korea), is the eldest son of Kim Jong-Il, ruler of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). Until recently it was believed that he was being groomed as Kim Jong-Il's successor; recent reports suggest that, although he may for a time have fallen from favor, he is now once again seen as a possible successor to his father.

Early life

Kim was born in Pyongyang, to Song Hye-rim, one of three women known to have had children with Kim Jong-il. Because Kim Jong-il aimed to keep his affair with Song a secret due to the disapproval of his father Kim Il-sung, he initially kept Jong-nam out of school, instead sending him to live with Song's older sister Song Hye-rang, who tutored him at home.cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,460254-1,00.html|publisher=Time Magazine|title=Secret Lives|last=Lee|first=Adriana S.|date=2003-06-23|accessdate=2007-10-29] In 1996 Kim Jong Nam entered an elite school for the children of Korean Workers' Party (KWP) leaders. As the grandson of Kim Il-sung, the DPRK's absolute ruler and "Great Leader" from 1947 to 1994, he would have been treated with the utmost deference. Kim went to school at the French School of the French embassy in Moscow, Soviet Union, from 1982-1985. His scores in school were average, he severely underperformed in sports and was systematically in last positions, especially in gymnastics. He lived in a residence complex for foreign diplomats located at Vavilova Street No. 83 which is still operative today. However during that period he was known by the pseudonym of "Tcheul Ri" and was not using his real name. He had two personal bodyguards, one acting also as chauffeur driving him in a gold-colored tinted window Mercedes-Benz W126 with Moscow diplomatic North Korean country license plate tag "087". During his years in Moscow he was very fond of Breakdance and would practice it in various clubs around the city which at that time were mostly in international hotels. Later, however, he was reported to have studied computer science in Switzerland, where he would have gained some knowledge of the West and of outside views of the DPRK.

Career

In 1998 Kim was appointed to a senior position in the Ministry of Public Security, the DPRK security apparatus, indicating that he was being promoted as a future leader. He was also reported to have been appointed head of the DPRK Computer Committee, in charge of developing an information technology industry. In January 2001 he accompanied his father to Shanghai, where he had talks with Chinese officials on the IT industry.

2001 incident

In May 2001, however, Kim was arrested on arrival at New Tokyo International Airport (now Narita International Airport), accompanied by two women and a four-year old boy identified as his son. He was traveling on a forged Dominican Republic passport using a Chinese alias, Pang Xiong (, Hanyu Pinyin "Pàng Xióng" [http://www.epochtimes.com/gb/4/9/2/n648488p.htm] , literally "fat bear") [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/FI02Dg01.html] . Kim was reportedly wearing a white shirt and dark blazer along with sunglasses and a gold chain. After being detained for several days, he was deported, on the instructions of the Japanese government, to the People's Republic of China. Kim apparently told his questioners that he was in Japan to visit Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu, also near Tokyo. The incident caused Kim Jong-il to cancel a planned visit to China because of the embarrassment to both countries.

Some analysts saw the May 2001 incident as a sign that Kim has lost power. Jong Heon Lee writes: :"His overseas trip with no bodyguards and officials indicates that he is out of the contention for the next leadership," a South Korean government official told United Press International on condition of anonymity. "It is unthinkable for a possible crown prince to travel overseas alone especially at a time when tensions are running high in the wake of speculations of missile or nuclear test in North Korea."

Visits to Japan

According to the Japanese magazine "Shukan Shincho",Fact|date=August 2007 Kim had made three previous clandestine visits to Japan, and had spent most of his time consorting with prostitutes in expensive bathhouses in Tokyo's Yoshiwara district. This aspect of the incident prompted commentators to point out the contrast between the situation in the DPRK, where many people are starving, with the self-indulgent lifestyles of its ruling elite. Aidan Foster-Carter wrote in the "Asia Times": :"A regime which denies liberty and even life to its subjects, preaches puritan communist morality and excoriates capitalism and the West, lets its playboy prince-ling swan into so-called enemy territory on a tacky fake passport, with son, two young women (neither his wife), a trunk-full of cash and all the vulgar display of the nouveau riche."Fact|date=August 2007

It appears that Kim Jong-nam's enemies in the DPRK have used the Tokyo incident to undermine his position as Kim Jong-il's heir apparent. Kim Jong-il has another son, Kim Jong-chul (born 1981 or 1982), whose mother was Ko Young-hee, Kim's most recent partner. This gives Kim Jong Chul a significant advantage in the dynastic politics of the DPRK. Kim Jong-il also has a daughter, Kim Sul-song (born 1974), whose mother is Kim's current wife, Kim Young-suk. Kim Young-suk, however, has been out of favour for many years.

DPRK Propaganda

In February 2003 the DPRK People's Army began a propaganda campaign under the slogan "The Respected Mother is the Most Faithful and Loyal Subject to the Dear Leader Comrade Supreme Commander." Since the "Respected Mother" was described as " [devoting] herself to the personal safety of the comrade supreme commander," and " [assisting] the comrade supreme commander nearest to his body," it is assumed that the "Respected Mother" is Ko Young-hee, and that the campaign is designed to promote Kim Jong-chul or possibly Kim Jong-un, her sons. (A similar campaign was launched in praise of Kim Jong Il's mother during the later years of Kim Il-Sung's life.)

Rivalry

This suggests that Kim Jong-chul, despite his youth, may have emerged as a serious rival, with Army backing, to Kim Jong-nam as the long-term successor to power in the DPRK. Since the loyalty of the Army is the real foundation of the Kim family's continuing hold on power in the DPRK, this would be a serious development for Kim Jong-nam's prospects. In late 2003 it was reported that Kim Jong-nam was living in China, lending strength to this belief.

Hwang Jang-yop, a former KWP secretary for international affairs who defected to the South in 1997, said in 2003: "An heir must be the child of a woman a king loves, and it is true that Kim Jong-il loves Ko Young-hee most. The fate of Kim Jong-nam has finished."

Future in Korea

It was reported in the "South China Morning Post" on February 1, 2007, that Kim Jong-nam had been living incognito with his family in the tiny former Portuguese enclave of Macau, for some three years, and that this was a cause of some embarrassment to both the Macau and Chinese governments. If true this report would further bolster speculation that Kim Jong-nam is not in line for succession to Kim Jong-il.
According to Portuguese Newspapers, Portuguese authorities, namely the Portuguese foreign affairs office and the Portuguese consulate in Macau, have expressly denied having issued a passport to Kim Jong-nam. According to the consul, Pedro Moitinho, "If such a document indeed exists, it is certainly a forgery".

In August 2007 it was reported that Kim Jong-nam had returned to the DPRK from China and had begun working at a key agency of the ruling Workers' Party, fueling speculation that the rift between Kim Jong-nam and his father had at least partially mended and that Kim Jong-nam was being groomed as a potential successor. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6965369.stm] It was verified later on that this was a rumor and that Kim Jong-nam is still staying in Beijing and Macau as before while travelling to Austria and France (for medical reasons) early November 2007 where he gave a short interview to a Japanese TV channel after going to Moscow.

ee also

* List of Korea-related topics
* List of Koreans
* Politics of North Korea

References

External links

* [http://www.itcc.org/article.asp?artid=182 After Kim Jong Il]
* [http://kr.image.yahoo.com/GALLERY/read.html?img_filename=41b7f06985a1 Gallery on Kim]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1310374.stm Japan expels North Korean leader's 'son']