The hidden childhood and wandering life of Kim Jong-un's brother

Kim Jong-nam, the older brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, had to live his childhood in secret, isolated from the outside world.

» Photos of North Korean leader Kim-Jong-un's extended family

» Malaysia confirms the death of Kim Jong-un's brother

Yonhap news agency yesterday quoted a South Korean government source as saying that Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and half-brother of current North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was assassinated on February 13. According to TV Chosun, Kim was assassinated by two unidentified female spies with poisoned needles at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The two female spies left the scene shortly after. Malaysian police confirmed Kim's death but said they had not yet found the cause of his death and would conduct an autopsy.

According to BBC, Mr. Kim Jong-nam was born in 1971 in the capital Pyongyang, North Korea. His mother was actress Song Hye-rim. Ms. Song was 4 to 5 years older than Mr. Kim Jong-il and was married to another man when she began her relationship with Mr. Kim Jong-il.

According to North Korean social norms, this relationship was unacceptable. Therefore, Kim Jong-il hid from his father, the late North Korean president Kim Il-sung, the fact that he had a child with Song Hye-rim.

At the time of Kim Jong-nam’s birth, Kim Jong-il was the leading candidate to succeed his father. If his relationship with Ms. Song were exposed, his political career would surely come to a dead end. Therefore, from an early age, Kim Jong-nam was taken to live in a secret location in the center of Pyongyang, completely isolated from the outside world.

When his mother fell ill and had to be sent abroad for treatment, Kim Jong-nam lived with his grandmother and aunt Song Hye-rang. When Kim Jong-nam was a child, Kim Kyong-hui, the sister of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, tried to take him away and claim him as her son. Although she was not accepted, she always supported Jong-nam.

10 years abroad

Young Kim Jong-nam (front right) sits next to his father, Kim Jong-il, in a family photo. Photo: AFP

According to the BBC, Kim Jong-nam grew up in secret, his childhood hidden behind closed doors.

Kim Jong-il loved Kim Jong-nam very much, always finding time to sleep with him, eat with him or call him when he was too busy to come home. Later, Kim Jong-nam finally had the opportunity to meet his grandfather Kim Il-sung.

In 1979, Kim Jong-nam began a 10-year journey of living and studying abroad. He lived in Russia and Switzerland and could speak fluent French and English. He returned to North Korea in the late 1980s.

Because of his early exposure to the outside world and dissatisfaction with his isolated, blockaded life in Pyongyang, Kim Jong-nam quickly expressed skepticism about the North Korean political and economic system.

At one point, Kim Jong-il was so angry with Kim Jong-nam that he threatened to put him to work in coal mines in political prisoner concentration camps.

According to Kim Kyong-hui, Kim Jong-il was not "just joking". The family even bought clothes and shoes in preparation for the day Kim Jong-nam was sent to prison.

Playboy

Not wanting to go to prison, Kim Jong-nam spent his youth living up to his father's wishes.

Kim Jong-nam was never seen as a candidate to succeed his father as the future leader of North Korea, but he did take part in family affairs.

According to some North Korea experts, Kim Jong-nam had connections with the internal security apparatus in Pyongyang and was involved in foreign exchange and purchasing activities.

In the 1990s, when thousands of North Koreans died of famine, Kim Jong-nam joined a group of government officials who reviewed the financial and business capabilities of state-run factories.

After several missions, Kim Jong-nam apparently witnessed the execution of factory managers on charges of embezzlement. All of this caused him to lose all hope for the country, observers said.

He married in the late 1990s. From the early 2000s onwards, Kim Jong-nam began living in exile abroad again, mainly in Macau and Beijing, China.

According to BBC, Kim Jong-nam was often seen visiting casinos in Asia and lived a relatively lavish lifestyle, so many people nicknamed him "playboy".

Wandering life

Kim Jong-nam appeared in Macau in 2010. Photo: AFP

In 2001, he was arrested at a Tokyo airport with two women and a child while trying to enter Japan with a fake Dominican Republic passport to visit Disneyland.

In an email exchange with a Japanese reporter in 2012, Kim Jong-nam criticized Kim Jong-un, saying his younger brother lacked "a sense of responsibility and seriousness" and warning that corruption and bribery would eventually weaken North Korea.

In October 2012, South Korean prosecutors said a captured North Korean spy had confessed to involvement in a 2010 hit-and-run plot in China targeting Kim Jong-nam.

In 2014, media reported that Kim Jong-nam appeared in Indonesia, dining at an Italian restaurant. He also owned a Japanese restaurant in the capital Jakarta. Kim Jong-nam is said to have flown frequently between Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and France.

In 2012, a Russian newspaper reported that Kim Jong-nam had financial problems after being cut off from aid from North Korea because of doubts about the succession policy.

According to the Russian newspaper Argumenty i Fakty, he was even kicked out of a luxury hotel in Macau for owing more than $15,000.

Kim Han-sol, Kim Jong-nam's son, studied at a university in Paris, France, according to AFP. In 2012, while studying in Bosnia, Kim Han-sol criticized his uncle as a "dictator" in an interview. "My father was not really interested in politics," Kim Han-sol added.

According to VNE