Disneyland lover: why North Korean intelligence killed Kim Jong-un's older brother

The leader of North Korea, Comrade Kim Jong-un, had an older brother named Kim Jong-nam, who was considered the main contender for the North Korean "communist crown". However, in 2001, he was forced to flee and settle in Macau, China. In 2017, he was killed at the airport of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. Many experts believe that the death was due to the younger brother's revenge for Kim Jong Nam's connection with the CIA.

Kim Jong Nam was born in 1971 in the capital of North Korea, Pyongyang. His father was the second helmsman of the Korean nation Kim Jong Il, his mother was a movie actress Song Hye Rim. Kim Jong Il's father, the then head of the DPRK, did not approve of his son's relationship with the actress. The boy spent the first years of his life with his grandmother, who, when he turned eight, took him away from Korea.

Kim Jong Nam with his father Kim Jong Il

Kim Jong Nam studied at Moscow and Swiss schools, where he learned Russian, English, German and French. In 1988, an 18-year-old boy returned home. Only a limited circle of the North Korean communist elite knew about the existence of Kim Jong Il's illegitimate son.

Kim Jong Nam practically did not communicate with his father's family, and the media did not mention him. He was allowed to visit Pyongyang only after receiving a special permit. However, in 1998, the illegitimate son of the Korean leader was appointed to an important post in the Ministry of State Security, entrusted to Kim Jong Nam to head the North Korean Computer Committee in order to develop IT technologies in the country.

Kim Jong Nam proved himself to be a good manager, and many representatives of the North Korean elite saw him as a future heir. The turning point came in May 2001. Kim Jong Nam, his wife, child and nanny were arrested at the airport in Nanjing. All had fake passports of the Dominican Republic.

During the interrogation, it turned out that the son of the head of the Communist Party of North Korea, along with his family, came to capitalist Japan to visit Tokyo Disneyland. Kim Jong Nam was deported to China, and at home he fell out of favor. There were rumors that Kim Jong-un's mother, Ko Yong-hee, who wanted to eliminate her son's main competitor for the post of leader of the DPRK, notified the Japanese special services about his arrival.

Kim Jong Nam, his wife and six children from different women settled in Las Vegas East Asia - in the Chinese city of Macau. The exile often traveled to Europe, owned real estate in Singapore and Beijing, but did not break ties with his native country. Kim Jong Nam has become a "solution" and a bridge connecting Chinese and Japanese businesses with the North Korean elite.

He received money from Pyongyang, helped the communist "bosses" buy luxury goods and conclude trade deals. The former heir of the DPRK liked to play in casinos, dine in posh restaurants, smoke cigars and drink expensive wine. He shared his public life with thousands of Facebook followers and willingly communicated with journalists.

In numerous interviews, he claimed that he did not claim power, but he was critical of the DPRK leadership. Kim Jong Nam saw the reason for his exile not in Disneyland, but in his attempt to start market reforms in the country following the example of the Chinese.

Kim Jong Nam unofficially visited North Korea in 2011 to attend his father's funeral. American expert and writer Ken Gause wrote that Kim Jong Il urged Kim Jong Un not to persecute his older brother. Although according to South Korean intelligence, he has been calling for the removal of a relative since 2009.

According to some reports, Chinese intelligence saw Kim Jong Nam as an alternative to Kim Jong Un, and North Korean defectors offered him to create a government in exile. From that moment on, the hunt began for him.

In 2013, Kim Jong Un executed the head of the defense committee, Jang Song Thaek, who was Kim Jong Nam's uncle and financed his nephew. Due to lack of money, the exile went into contact with Western intelligence services.

On February 13, 2017, 45-year-old Kim Jong Nam checked in at Kuala Lumpur Airport using a fake passport. Two girls approached him, one distracted the man, and the second threw a handkerchief soaked in the nerve agent VX over his face.

VX is the most toxic of the existing synthetic poisons. The lethal dose is 0.01 grams

Kim Jong Nam died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Journalists wrote that the victim had 12 bottles of antidotes with him. It turned out that the girls were hired by two unknown people who told them that they wanted to arrange a prank for their friend. For the involuntary murder of the girls, who were sure that they were participating in some kind of show, received $ 90 each.

Kim Jong Nam's Killers:

For the crime, the Malaysian court gave the girls three years in prison. Several other suspects were also detained, but the alleged organizers of the action managed to escape from Malaysia.

According to The Wall Street Journal, before his death, Kim Jong Nam met with US CIA officers in Malaysia and actively sought contact with the special services of China and South Korea.