Kim Jong-nam (, ; 10 May 1971 – 13 February 2017) was the eldest son of
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
n leader
Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...
. From roughly 1994 to 2001, he was considered the heir apparent to his father. He was thought to have fallen out of favour after embarrassing the regime in 2001 with a failed attempt to visit
Tokyo Disneyland
(local nickname ''TDL'') is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be ...
with a false passport, although Kim himself said his loss of favour had been due to advocating reform.
Kim Jong-nam was
exile
Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
d from North Korea 2003, becoming an occasional critic of his family's regime.
His younger paternal half-brother,
Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...
, was named heir apparent in September 2010.
Kim Jong-nam was
assassinated
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...
in Malaysia on 13 February 2017 with the nerve agent
VX.
''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' on 10 June 2019 reported that former US officials stated that Kim Jong-nam had been a
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
source.
Life and career
Early life (1971–1998)
Kim Jong-nam was born on 10 May 1971 in
Pyongyang
Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populatio ...
, North Korea, to
Song Hye-rim
Song Hye-rim (; 24 January 1937 18 May 2002) was a North Korean actress, best known for being the one-time favored mistress of Kim Jong-il.
Early life and education
Song was born in Changnyeong when Korea was under Imperial Japanese rule. Sh ...
, one of four women known to have had children with
Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...
. Because Kim Jong-il aimed to keep his affair with Song a secret due to the disapproval of his father
Kim Il-sung
Kim Il-sung (; , ; born Kim Song-ju, ; 15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he ruled from the country's establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. He held the posts of ...
, he initially kept Jong-nam out of school, instead sending him to live with Song's older sister
Song Hye-rang
Seong Hye-rang (born 1935) is a North Korean defector and author.
Early life
Her father was a wealthy South Korean landowner who moved to the North for political reasons, while her mother was an editor of the official North Korean newspaper '' R ...
, who tutored him at home.
North Korea Leadership Watch says he left North Korea to visit his grandmother in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
,
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, and spent his childhood at international schools in both
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
until returning to his home country in 1988.
Kim Jong-nam was reported to have had a personality similar to that of his father, and was described by his aunt as being "hot-tempered, sensitive, and gifted in the arts".
His aunt also said in 2000 that he "
idnot wish to succeed his father".
Like Kim Jong-il, he was interested in film: he wrote scripts and short films from a young age.
His father also created a small
movie set
Set construction is the process undertaken by a construction manager to build full-scale scenery, as specified by a scenic design, production designer or art director working in collaboration with the theatre director, director of a productio ...
for him to use.
Kim Jong-nam made several clandestine visits to Japan, starting as early as 1995.
1998–2001: Heir apparent
In 1998, Kim Jong-nam was appointed to a senior position in the
Ministry of Public Security of North Korea, as a future leader.
He was also reported to have been appointed head of the North Korean Computer Committee, in charge of developing an information technology (IT) industry. In January 2001, he accompanied his father to
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, where he had talks with Chinese officials on the IT industry.
2001: Tokyo Disneyland incident
In May 2001, Kim Jong-nam was arrested in Japan on arrival at
Narita International Airport
Narita International Airport ( ja, 成田国際空港, Narita Kokusai Kūkō) , also known as Tokyo-Narita, formerly and originally known as , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Haneda Airport ...
, accompanied by two women and a four-year-old boy identified as his son. He was travelling on a forged
Dominican Passport using a Chinese alias, Pang Xiong ().
After being detained, he was deported to China,
where he said he was travelling to Japan to visit
Tokyo Disneyland
(local nickname ''TDL'') is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, near Tokyo. Its main gate is directly adjacent to both Maihama Station and Tokyo Disneyland Station. It was the first Disney park to be ...
.
The incident caused his father to cancel a planned visit to China due to the embarrassment it caused him.
2001–2005: Loss of favour
Until the Tokyo incident, Kim Jong-nam was expected to become leader of the country after his father. In February 2003, the
Korean People's Army
The Korean People's Army (KPA; ) is the military force of North Korea and the armed wing of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK). Under the ''Songun'' policy, it is the central institution of North Korean society. Currently, WPK General Sec ...
began a propaganda campaign under the slogan "The Respected Mother is the Most Faithful and Loyal Subject to the Dear Leader Comrade Supreme Commander." This was interpreted as praise of
Ko Young-hee, and likely part of a campaign designed to promote
Kim Jong-chul
Kim Jong-chul (; born 25 September 1981), sometimes spelled Kim Jong Chol, is a son of former North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il. His younger brother is current Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. His older half-brother Kim Jong-nam was assas ...
or
Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...
, her sons.
Since the loyalty of the army is the real foundation of the Kim family's continuing hold on power in North Korea, this was a serious detriment for Kim Jong-nam's prospects.
In late 2003, it was reported that Kim Jong-nam was living in
Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
, lending strength to this belief.
Kim Jong-un was left in charge while his father was on a state visit to China.
Outsider observers also believed
North Korea's sinking of a South Korean ship in March 2010 was part of
Kim Jong-il
Kim Jong-il (; ; ; born Yuri Irsenovich Kim;, 16 February 1941 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. He led North Korea from the 1994 death of his father Kim ...
's attempt to secure succession for the youngest Kim: provoking a security crisis he could use to rally military support behind Kim Jong-un.
Kim Jong-nam's loss of favour was thought to have been caused by the Tokyo incident.
However, Kim Jong-nam himself claimed that he had fallen out of favour due to advocating for reform.
In an email to the editor of the ''
Tokyo Shimbun
''The Tokyo Shimbun'' (東京新聞, ''Tōkyō Shinbun'', literally ''Tokyo Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published by The Chunichi Shimbun Company. The group publishes newspapers under the brand name of The Tokyo Shimbun in the Tokyo Metr ...
'', Kim Jong-nam wrote that after being educated in Switzerland, he "insisted on reform and market-opening", leading his father to decide that he had turned "into a capitalist".
[ Kim Jong-nam at this time has also been described as "the closest ]orth Korea Orth can refer to:
Places
* Orth, Minnesota, an unincorporated community in Nore Township, Minnesota, United States
* Orth an der Donau, a town in Gänserndorf, Lower Austria, Austria
* Orth House, a historic house in Winnetka, Illinois, United St ...
ever had to an international playboy", and gained a reputation for "gambling and drinking and arranging the occasional business deal". He used to be the only member of the Kim family to ever speak directly to media outside of North Korea, until Kim Jong-un took a question from a foreign journalist during the 2019 North Korea–United States Hanoi Summit
The 2019 North Korea–United States Hanoi Summit, commonly known as the Hanoi Summit, was a two-day summit meeting between North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. president Donald Trump, held at the French Colonial Hôtel Métropol ...
.
It was believed that Kim Jong-nam had friendly ties to China. Outside analysts considered him as a possible candidate to replace Kim Jong-un if the North Korean leadership imploded and China, traditionally an ally, sought a replacement leader.
2005–2017: Rise of Kim Jong-un
The ''Asahi Shimbun
is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition and ...
'' reported that Kim Jong-nam, while travelling to see his brother Kim Jong-chul in Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, survived an assassination attempt at the Budapest Ferihegy International Airport
Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport ( hu, Budapest Liszt Ferenc Nemzetközi Repülőtér) , formerly known as ''Budapest Ferihegy International Airport'' and still commonly called just ''Ferihegy'', is the international airport serving t ...
in July 2006. According to South Korean reports, the Hungarian government protested against the incident to the North Korean embassy in Vienna, requesting there be no recurrence. It was reported in the ''South China Morning Post
The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...
'' on 1 February 2007, that Kim Jong-nam had been living incognito with his family in Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
, for some three years.
South Korean television and the ''South China Morning Post'' reported in 2007 that Kim Jong-nam had a Portuguese passport. However, Portuguese authorities and the Portuguese consul in Macau, Pedro Moitinho de Almeida, stated that if he had such a document, it would be a forgery.
In January 2009, Kim Jong-nam said that he had "no interest" in taking power in North Korea after his father, stating that it is only for his father to decide.
In June 2010, Kim Jong-nam gave a brief interview to the Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
in Macau while waiting for a hotel elevator. He said that he had "no plans" to defect to Europe, as the press had recently rumoured. He lived in an apartment on the southern tip of Macau's Coloane Island
Coloane (Cantonese: Lou Wan) is a former island in Macau that is united with the island of Taipa by an area of reclaimed land known as Cotai. It is located at the southern part of Macau. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil pa ...
until 2007.[Where Is Kim Jong-il's Eldest Son?](_blank)
. ''The Chosun Ilbo''. 4 October 2010. An anonymous South Korean official reported in October 2010 that Kim Jong-nam had not lived in Macau for "months", and shuttled between China and "another country".
In late September 2010, his younger half-brother Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...
was made heir-apparent. Kim Jong-un was declared Supreme Leader of North Korea on 24 December 2011 after the death of Kim Jong-il. The two half-brothers had never met because of the ancient practice of raising potential successors separately.
On 1 January 2012, it was reported that Kim Jong-nam secretly flew to Pyongyang from Macau on 17 December 2011, after learning about his father's death that day and was presumed to have accompanied Kim Jong-un when paying his last respects to their father. He left after a few days to return to Macau and was not in attendance at the funeral to avoid speculation about the succession.
On 14 January 2012, Kim Jong-nam was seen in Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
waiting for an Air China
Air China Limited () is the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China and one of the "Big Three" mainland Chinese airlines (alongside China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines). Air China's headquarters are in Shunyi District, ...
flight to Macau. He confirmed his identity to a group of South Koreans, which included a professor at Incheon University
Incheon National University (INU), previously also known as University of Incheon (UI), is a national university, operated by the legal entity (법인, 法人) established by the government of Republic of Korea (South Korea), aiming for a world-c ...
, and told them that he usually travels alone.
In a book released in 2012 titled ''My Father, Kim Jong Il, and Me'' by Japanese journalist Yōji Gomi
Yōji, Yoji, Youji, or Yohji is a common masculine Japanese given name
Possible writings
Yōji can be written using different kanji characters and can mean:
*洋二, "ocean, second"
*洋次, "ocean, next"
*洋司, "ocean, rule"
*洋治, "ocean, g ...
who had interviewed him on numerous occasions, Kim Jong-nam said that he expected the leadership of Kim Jong-un to fail, citing that he was too inexperienced and young. He also stated, "Without reforms, North Korea will collapse, and when such changes take place, the regime will collapse".
According to South Korean intelligence sources, Kim Jong-un had issued a standing order to have his half-brother killed. In 2012, there was another assassination attempt on Kim Jong-nam, who later that year sent a letter to his half-brother begging for his life. In late 2012, he appeared in Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
one year after leaving Macau. He left Macau on suspicions that he was being targeted for assassination by Kim Jong-un; South Korean authorities had formerly indicted a North Korean agent, Kim Yong-su, who confessed to planning an attack on Kim Jong-nam in July 2010.
On 10 June 2019, the ''Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', citing former US officials, stated that Kim Jong-nam had been a CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
source. A book by Anna Fifield
Anna Fifield (born 14 March 1976) is a journalist with ''The Washington Post''. Previously she was the editor of '' The Dominion Post'' based in Wellington, New Zealand and the Beijing bureau chief for ''The Washington Post'' where she focused h ...
, ''Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' bureau chief in Beijing, had earlier reported this, stating that he had been previously filmed abroad with a US intelligence agent, and had carried a backpack containing $120,000 in cash.
Assassination
On 13 February 2017, Kim Jong-nam died after being exposed to VX nerve agent
VX is an extremely toxic synthetic chemical compound in the organophosphorus class, specifically, a thiophosphonate. In the class of nerve agents, it was developed for military use in chemical warfare after translation of earlier discoveri ...
at Kuala Lumpur International Airport
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) is Malaysia's main international airport. It is located in the Sepang District of Selangor, approximately south of Kuala Lumpur and serves the city's greater conurbation.
KLIA is the largest and b ...
in Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
. It was widely believed that he was killed on the orders of his half-brother Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-un (; , ; born 8 January 1982) is a North Korean politician who has been Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 and the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) since 2012. He is a son of Kim Jong-il, who was North Korea's sec ...
. Four North Korean suspects left the airport shortly after the attack, travelling back to Pyongyang.
An Indonesian woman, Siti Aisyah, and a Vietnamese woman, Đoàn Thị Hương, were charged with murder but said they thought they were taking part in a TV prank. In March 2019, Siti Aisyah was freed after the charge against her was dropped. In April, the murder charge against Hương was also dropped, and she pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of "voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means". She was sentenced to three years and four months in prison, but received a one-third reduction in her term, and was released on 3 May 2019.
Personal life
It has been reported that Kim Jong-nam had two wives, and one mistress
Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to:
Romance and relationships
* Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...
, and had at least six children. His first wife, Shin Jong-hui (born ), lives at a home called Dragon Villa on the northern outskirts of Beijing. His second wife, Lee Hye-kyong (born ), their son Han-sol (born 1995) and their daughter Sol-hui (born ) lived in a modest 12-story apartment building
An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ...
in Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
; his mistress, former Air Koryo
Air Koryo () is the state-owned national airline of North Korea, headquartered in Sunan-guyŏk, Pyongyang. Based at Pyongyang International Airport (IATA: FNJ), it operates international scheduled and charter services to points in Asia.
Histo ...
flight attendant
A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...
So Yong-la (born ), also lives in Macau. He had several tattoos, including two of dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
s.
See also
* Foreign relations of North Korea
The foreign relations of North Korea – officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) – have been shaped by its conflict with South Korea and its historical ties with world communism. Both the government of North Korea and th ...
* List of people of Korean descent
:''This is a list of notable Korean people, Koreans or notable people of Korean descent.''
In Korean names, the Korean name, family name is placed first (for example, the family name of "Park Ji-Sung" is "Park"), unless the person has decided to ...
* Outline of North Korea
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to North Korea:
North Korea is a sovereign country located on the northern half of the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. To the south, separated by the Korean Demilitarized Z ...
* Politics of North Korea
The politics of North Korea (officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea or DPRK) takes place within the framework of the official state philosophy, Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism. ''Juche'', which is a part of Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism, i ...
Notes
References
External links
Japan expels North Korean leader's 'son'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Jong-nam
1971 births
2017 deaths
Assassinated North Korean politicians
Deaths from nerve agent poisoning
People deported from Japan
People from Pyongyang
Workers' Party of Korea politicians
Kim dynasty (North Korea)
Kim Il-sung University alumni
North Korean expatriates in Macau
Children of national leaders
North Korean expatriates in Singapore
North Korean people murdered abroad
People murdered in Malaysia
2017 murders in Malaysia
North Korean individuals subject to the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions