[imText1]Reports suggest that Kim Jong Il’s first son Kim Jong Nam (36) is working for the Guidance Department of the Workers’ Party having returned to North Korea in June.
According to a report by the Chosun Ilbo on 27th, “Kim Jong Nam returned to North Korea in June, around the time North Korea’s $24mn tied to Banco Delta Asia Bank had been released. After many years living abroad, he has returned to Pyongyang and is currently working for the Guidance Department of the Party.”
The Guidance Department is North Korea’s core organization being in charge of personnel management over the main positions of the Workers’ Party, military organizations and government. If this report is accurate, this signals a start to Kim Jong Nam’s competition for the position of North Korea’s successor.
In relation to Kim Jong Nam’s reappearance, one source of a South Korean intelligence department said, “This is associated to the death of Koh Young Hee in June 2004, the mother of Jong Chul and Jong Woon.” While Koh Young Hee was alive, the position of North Korea’s successor inclined towards Jong Chul. Now with Jong Nam’s sudden appearance in North Korea, it seems the tables may just have turned.
Regarding this, the South Korean source said in a conversation with the DailyNK, “We cannot eliminate the fact that his sudden entry back home may have been spurred by foreign sources knowing his residency and whereabouts in Macau, though confirmation is necessary.”
Director of Inter-Korean relations Jeong Sung Jang of the Sejong Institute said, “The Guidance Department is North Korea’s core decision making authority. Hence, if this report is true, we could conclude that work has begun to appoint Kim Jong Nam as the next successor” and “Nonetheless, rumors such as these have been circulating for a while. We will have to check the validity of this truth.”
Jeong said, “If Kim Jong Nam has been appointed as the next successor, we will soon hear news of military inspections with Kim Jong Il” yet commented, “However, it will be difficult to confirm whether Kim Jong Nam (born with Kim Jong Il’s ex-mistress Sung Hye Rim) has been appointed successor just as his existence within North Korea is not widely known.”
Kim Jong Nam’s lifestyle abroad has been carefully veiled though he did make a momentary stopover in Beijing on February 11th with Kim Jong Il’s birthday (February 16) close at hand. Reports suggest he visited Beijing in order to obtain his father’s birthday gift, though he did not make a trip into Pyongyang.
In 2001, Kim Jong Nam was deported from Japan after entering the country with a fake passport. Since then, reports suggest he had been roaming around the world evading the eyes of Kim Jong Il. Then last year February, a domestic newspaper in Macau reported his residency at an exclusive villa within the country.
