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Kim Jong-un’s Half Brother Is Reported Assassinated in Malaysia Kim Jong-un’s Half Brother Is Reported Assassinated in Malaysia
(35 minutes later)
SEOUL, South Korea — The estranged half brother of Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, was assassinated in Malaysia on Monday by two women who stabbed him with poisoned needles, a South Korean all-news channel reported on Tuesday.SEOUL, South Korea — The estranged half brother of Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, was assassinated in Malaysia on Monday by two women who stabbed him with poisoned needles, a South Korean all-news channel reported on Tuesday.
American intelligence officials corroborated the report that the half brother, Kim Jong-nam, 45, had been killed by female assassins at the international airport in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, where he apparently had been awaiting a flight to Macau. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not know the precise cause of death.American intelligence officials corroborated the report that the half brother, Kim Jong-nam, 45, had been killed by female assassins at the international airport in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, where he apparently had been awaiting a flight to Macau. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not know the precise cause of death.
The South Korean news channel, TV Chosun, said in its account that the assailants fled in a taxi after the attack and that the local police were searching for them. The Yonhap News Agency of South Korea also reported the assassination without any detail.The South Korean news channel, TV Chosun, said in its account that the assailants fled in a taxi after the attack and that the local police were searching for them. The Yonhap News Agency of South Korea also reported the assassination without any detail.
The Royal Malaysia Police said in a statement that a North Korean man they identified as Kim Chol — an alias that South Korean officials said had been used by Kim Jong-nam — died en route to a hospital on Monday after seeking medical assistance at the airport. “A post-mortem examination request has been made to ascertain the cause of death,” the statement said.The Royal Malaysia Police said in a statement that a North Korean man they identified as Kim Chol — an alias that South Korean officials said had been used by Kim Jong-nam — died en route to a hospital on Monday after seeking medical assistance at the airport. “A post-mortem examination request has been made to ascertain the cause of death,” the statement said.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service and its Unification Ministry said they could not immediately confirm the reports of the half brother’s death.South Korea’s National Intelligence Service and its Unification Ministry said they could not immediately confirm the reports of the half brother’s death.
The reports come amid a period of turmoil in the upper ranks of North Korea’s leadership. The chief of the North’s powerful secret police, long considered the right-hand man for Kim Jong-un, was recently dismissed on charges of corruption and abuse of power, according to the South Korean government.The reports come amid a period of turmoil in the upper ranks of North Korea’s leadership. The chief of the North’s powerful secret police, long considered the right-hand man for Kim Jong-un, was recently dismissed on charges of corruption and abuse of power, according to the South Korean government.
Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of the deceased North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, was once considered the heir to power in the dynastic regime in Pyongyang. But he was believed to have hobbled his chance of becoming leader when he was caught in 2001 while trying to take his son to Tokyo Disneyland with a fake visa. He was detained for several days before being deported to China. Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of the deceased North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, was once considered the heir to power in the dynastic regime in Pyongyang. But he was believed to have hobbled his chance of becoming leader when he was caught in 2001 while trying to take his son to Tokyo Disneyland with a fake visa. He was detained for several days before being deported to China.
Other analysts in South Korea say that Kim Jong-nam fell out of the succession race after his mother, Sung Hae-rim, was rejected by the North Korean leader, who favored Kim Jong-un’s mother, Ko Young-hee. Ms. Ko and Kim Jong-il had another son, Kim Jong-chol, who was seen at an Eric Clapton concert in London in 2015.Other analysts in South Korea say that Kim Jong-nam fell out of the succession race after his mother, Sung Hae-rim, was rejected by the North Korean leader, who favored Kim Jong-un’s mother, Ko Young-hee. Ms. Ko and Kim Jong-il had another son, Kim Jong-chol, who was seen at an Eric Clapton concert in London in 2015.
North Korea began actively grooming Kim Jong-un as heir after his father had a stroke in 2008. As his youngest brother consolidated his power, Kim Jong-nam lived in semi-exile abroad. Until recently, he had sometimes been seen in Macau. TV Chosun said he had also been visiting Singapore and Malaysia, where he had girlfriends.North Korea began actively grooming Kim Jong-un as heir after his father had a stroke in 2008. As his youngest brother consolidated his power, Kim Jong-nam lived in semi-exile abroad. Until recently, he had sometimes been seen in Macau. TV Chosun said he had also been visiting Singapore and Malaysia, where he had girlfriends.
Kim Jong-nam had a son named Kim Han-sol, who used to study in Bosnia and later France. In an interview with a European television channel in 2012, the son said he did not know how his uncle, Kim Jong-un, “became a dictator.”
Like his half brother, Kim Jong-nam spent time in Switzerland as a teenager.Like his half brother, Kim Jong-nam spent time in Switzerland as a teenager.
Mr. Kim was once questioned in Macau by a reporter about the likelihood that his brother would take over the leadership of North Korea, and he seemed to accept his fate.Mr. Kim was once questioned in Macau by a reporter about the likelihood that his brother would take over the leadership of North Korea, and he seemed to accept his fate.
“It is my father’s decision,” he said. “So, once he decides, we have to support.”“It is my father’s decision,” he said. “So, once he decides, we have to support.”
But Mr. Kim also once predicted doom for his half brother’s rule while talking to reporters from Japan, North Korea’s sworn enemy. His criticism had fueled speculation that China and certain generals in Pyongyang might be protecting him in case anything should go wrong with Kim Jong-un’s rule. But other times, he was critical of Kim Jong-un’s ascendance to power.
“I believe that my father originally was against the notion of a third generation succeeding him,” Kim Jong-nam told the Japanese journalist Yoji Gomi in the book “My Father, Kim Jong-il and I,” in an interview in November 2010, shortly after Kim Jong-un had emerged as his father’s heir apparent. “There must have been some internal reasons that made him change his mind.”
Kim Jong-nam also once predicted doom for his half brother’s rule while talking to reporters from Japan, North Korea’s sworn enemy. His criticism had fueled speculation that China and certain generals in Pyongyang might be protecting him in case anything should go wrong with Kim Jong-un’s rule.
Mr. Gomi said in an interview Tuesday that the last time he had contacted Kim Jong-nam, in January 2012, he had advocated that North Korea should follow the lead of China by pursuing market reforms.
China had been supporting Kim Jong-nam financially for many years because in the event of Kim Jong-un’s death, North Koreans, indoctrinated for more than six decades to venerate the Kim family, would look to Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of Kim Jong-il, to step in as leader, according to Kang Chunnu, 61, a writer living in Britain. Ms. Kang is a distant relative of the Kim family.
“Kim Jong-nam is a person which China can control and the North Korean people can trust,” she said by telephone.
Officially, Beijing has voiced support for the North Korean succession.Officially, Beijing has voiced support for the North Korean succession.
Speculation quickly spread in South Korea on Tuesday that Kim Jong-un might be behind the reported death of his half brother. TV Chosun said that the North Korean leader appeared to have sent agents to assassinate his eldest sibling, considering him a potential threat to his rule.Speculation quickly spread in South Korea on Tuesday that Kim Jong-un might be behind the reported death of his half brother. TV Chosun said that the North Korean leader appeared to have sent agents to assassinate his eldest sibling, considering him a potential threat to his rule.
“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.
Mr. Lee said Kim Jong-un also had “a serious legitimacy problem in terms of his bloodline.” His mother, Ms. Ko, who died in 2004, was born in Japan. Her roots in Japan, Korea’s former colonial master, had negative implications in the North and were kept hidden from the ordinary people.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for South Korea’s governing Liberty Korea Party, Kim Myung-yeon, issued a statement saying that the killing was a “naked example of Kim Jong-un’s reign of terror.”On Tuesday, a spokesman for South Korea’s governing Liberty Korea Party, Kim Myung-yeon, issued a statement saying that the killing was a “naked example of Kim Jong-un’s reign of terror.”
Since taking power, Mr. Kim has executed scores of senior party and military officials deemed a threat to his authority. Since taking power, Mr. Kim has executed more than 140 senior party and military officials deemed a threat to his authority, often ordering them killed by machine guns and even flamethrowers, according to the Institute for National Security Strategy, a research group affiliated with the South’s National Intelligence Service.
Thae Yong-ho, who had been the North’s No. 2 diplomat in London until his defection to South Korea last summer, said he had fled partly because of Mr. Kim’s “reign of terror.”
In 2015, South Korean officials said that Gen. Hyon Yong-chol, the defense minister, had been executed with an antiaircraft gun in Pyongyang, the North’s capital, after dozing off during military events and second-guessing Mr. Kim’s orders. In August, they said Mr. Kim found fault with a deputy premier’s “disrespectful posture” during a meeting and had him executed by firing squad.
Relatives were not spared. An uncle and the country’s No. 2 official, Jang Song-thaek, was executed in 2013 on charges of factionalism, corruption and plotting to overthrow the government.Relatives were not spared. An uncle and the country’s No. 2 official, Jang Song-thaek, was executed in 2013 on charges of factionalism, corruption and plotting to overthrow the government.
“Given that Kim Jong-nam had lost favor in the isolated state even under his father, he had very little influence on the political establishment in North Korea,” said Anwita Basu, an analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit. “It is more a sign of Kim Jong-un asserting his control than of the North Korean regime descending into frictional killings and chaos.”
Defectors from North Korea, especially those who speak out against the Pyongyang regime, live in fear of retaliation. In 1997, Lee Han-young, a nephew of a former wife of Kim Jong-il, was shot and killed in Seoul. South Korean officials suspected that a North Korean agent killed Mr. Lee, who had become a bitter critic of the government in Pyongyang after defecting to Seoul in 1982.Defectors from North Korea, especially those who speak out against the Pyongyang regime, live in fear of retaliation. In 1997, Lee Han-young, a nephew of a former wife of Kim Jong-il, was shot and killed in Seoul. South Korean officials suspected that a North Korean agent killed Mr. Lee, who had become a bitter critic of the government in Pyongyang after defecting to Seoul in 1982.
Cheong Seong-chang, a longtime researcher on the Kim family, said that the killing of Kim Jong-nam could happen only with the order of Kim Jong-un. Mr. Cheong speculated that the North’s leader might have become angry over a recent South Korean news report that his half brother had once tried to defect to the South. Cheong Seong-chang, a longtime researcher on the Kim family, said that the killing of Kim Jong-nam could happen only with the order of Kim Jong-un. Mr. Cheong speculated that the North’s leader might have become angry over a recent South Korean news report that his half brother had once tried to defect to the South. He also said the Reconnaissance General Bureau, a North Korean intelligence agency, specialized in assassination missions abroad.
Ken E. Gause, a specialist in leadership studies at the CNA Corporation,a research group in Alexandria, Va., said the killing of Kim Jong-nam would also be a signal to the North Korean expatriate community.
“Given the recent defections,” he said, “Kim Jong-un felt the need to show that the regime could get to anyone who may be contemplating opposing the regime.”