Kim Jong Nam - Leadership Succession
Kim Jong Nam was born on 10 May 1971 to Song Hye Rim, Kim Jong Il's second wife. But it is not known with certainty whether Kim Jong-il actually married Sung, and there are suggestions that Kim Jong-nam may be illegitimate, and thus not the obvious heir-apparent. Sung Hye-rim soon moved to Moscow after falling out with Kim Jong-il. At the age of 10, Kim Jong Nam was packed off to study at an international school in Geneva.
Kim Jong Nam was at one time believed to be a prospective successor to his father to take the helm of the communist North. He had been appointed to a senior post in the domestic intelligence agency, featured in defector accounts as leading a purge in 1996 in which dozens of people were executed. He was also known as a computer enthusiast. As of 2001 he led North Korea's committee on computing, and was believed to be responsible for information technology policy.
As of 2001 a few South Korean businesses employed the Korean Computer Center (KCC), a state-owned enterprise in Pyongyang, to write software for specialty applications such as voice recognition and fingertip identification. The KCC, established in 1990, had about 800 employees with an average age of about 26. [Hard-Line Software, BY TIM LARIMER Time Asia, FEBRUARY 19, 2001, VOL.157 NO.7]
In January 2001 the Nodong Sinmun announced a policy of “New Thinking” (Saeroun kwanjom) which called for scrapping outmoded habits and mentalities and putting all efforts into the technological reconstruction of North Korea, with a special emphasis on information technology. This special mention of information technology, Kim Jong Nam's area of special responsibility, might have been taken as an indication of his impending or actual elevation to the succession.
The so-called "Small General" was said to have visited Japan to build up his knowledge in the Japanese language and computer technology. Kim Jong-nam first sneaked into Japan with a forged passport around 1995. Japanese security authorities did not recognize him because there were few close-up pictures of him, and little other information available, since he had never officially appeared in public. He was also known to have recently studied at the universities in Geneva and Moscow.
On Tuesday 01 May 2001 Japanese authorities detained Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of Kim Jong Il, at Narita airport for attempting to enter the country illegally. He was detained by immigration officers when he arrived from Singapore aboard Japan Airlines Flight 712 with two women and a 4-year-old boy. The younger of the two women was said to be Jong-nam's secretary and Japanese interpreter. The child was his son, but it was not clear whether the other female companion was his wife, Shin Jong-hi, or a relative who takes care of the child.
The man was found to possess a forged Dominican Republic passport, which contained records of previous entries into Japan, once in October 2000 and twice in December 2000. He reportedly told investigators through an interpreter that he was the son of Kim Jong Il and "wants to go to Tokyo Disneyland." Kim Jong Nam had previously attempted to sneak into Japan several times under a false name to visit sightseeing spots. Foreign Ministry officials said the man was "highly likely to be Kim Jong Nam" but stopped short of officially identifying as such. The four were deported on Friday 4 May 2001 to Beijing.
Kim Jong-nam's weakened position became apparent in 2002, when he spent much of the year in Russia, tending his ailing mother. Kim Jong Nam's 65-year-old mother Sung Hae Rim [Sung Hye-rim] died in July or August of 2002 in Moscow. A former actress, she suffered chronic diseases including cardiopathology, diabetes and mental depression, and a complication of these killed her. Sung used to be the most famous actress in North Korea during the 1960s and 70s. Reportedly Sung left the Dear Leader because she was tired of Kim Jong Il's adultery. Sung had been living in Moscow since the early 1980s. In February of 1996, Sung Hae Rim and her sister Sung Hye Rang, briefly moved to Geneva, Switzerland. But Sung Hae Rim eventually returned to Moscow.
Although Kim Jong Nam had previously been touted as Kim Jong-il's heir-apparent, after the Tokyo airport incident and the death of his mother, he appeared to be out of the leadership race. As of early 2003 he was believed to be residing in China.
Kim Jong Nam's appearance at a Beijing airport 25 September 2004 further fueled doubts about his status. He was travelling alone and there was no one greeting him on his arrival. He appeared to have arrived from an unknown third country, not North Korea. His overseas trip with no bodyguards and officials indicated that he was out of the contention for the leadership.
There is precedent for the regime re-instating disgraced figures after a period of atonement, and his rehabilitation cannot be excluded. Oldest sons are generally favored in North Korea, where Confucian traditions that honor seniority still hold sway.
