The elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been killed in Malaysia, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency and several other local media outlets said Tuesday, citing government sources.
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“Kim Jong Nam reportedly has been Beijing’s favorite, which may mean one day the Chinese Communist Party may overthrow Kim Jong Un and install Kim Jong Nam”, said Lee Sung-yoon, a North Korea expert at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
A North Korean man in his 40s died suddenly at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, an officer from the police division overseeing the airport told The Nikkei. If the North Korean dictator did indeed order Kim Jong-nam’s killing, it wouldn’t be the first time he signed the death warrant for a family member.
Police have launched an investigation to verify claims that the man could have been murdered. After trying to visit Disneyland in Toyko, Nam was expelled from Japan for traveling on a fake passport. In 2012 a Moscow newspaper reported that Jong-Nam was having financial problems after being cut off by the Stalinist state for doubting its succession policy. But it’s widely believed Kim Jong-Un saw his older half-brother as a threat to the regime.
The subsequent fallout from that incident led to Kim Jong-un’s grooming to take over for the Dear Leader.
As this Reuters chart shows, there actually is a Kim Jong-chol, and it’s another of Jong-un’s brothers.
Kim was a frequent traveler to China but had not defected from the North Korean government.
This came within just days after former Vice Chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, Jang Song-Thaek (who was married to Kim’s aunt Kim Kyong-hui) was executed for corruption charges and what was called counter-revolutionary sympathies.
The Associated Press notes that Kim Jong-un has killed or purged real and perceived rivals in a “reign of terror” to consolidate power, notably including General Jang Song-taek, who was Kim Jong-nam’s uncle. The women are believed to have been working for North Korea.
Some analysts suggest that Kim Jong-il instead chose to groom Jong-un for succession after his 2008 stroke because he favored his younger son’s mother, Ko Young-hee.
The reason? Despite his outspoken opposition to North Korea’s oppressive regime, he was probably Kim Jong-Il’s oldest son – making him the true heir to the North Korean throne.
“The power elite that have ruled the country will continue to be in control”, wrote Kim Jong-nam in an email.
Mr Foster-Carter also said gang activity is a possibility, saying it is conceivable Kim Jong-nam had gambling debits.
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“I think all of these are very possible”, he said.
