The Untold Secrets Behind Kim Jong-Nam’s 2017 Assassination That Shook North Korea’s Power Struggle
That said, Kim Jong-il still seemed to have plans for his eldest son. Technologically minded, Kim Jong-nam was appointed to the Computer Committee and helped build out the country’s intranet. He also served in the Korean People’s Army and was appointed to a senior position in the Ministry of Public Security. But then everything changed.
In 2001, Kim Jong-nam embarrassed the North Korean regime. His position deteriorated, and any chance he had of taking over for his father vanished.
Kim Jong-Nam’s Fall From Grace
Kim Jong-nam’s fall from grace came in May 2001. According to a Washington Post article from that year, Kim Jong-nam was arrested at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport while traveling with two women and a four-year-old boy, thought to be his son. He had a passport from the Dominican Republic which identified him as Pang Xiong (“Fat Bear”).
Though Kim Jong-nam had entered the country before, this time the Japanese authorities had been tipped off about his arrival. They detained him and Kim Jong-nam eventually admitted to his identity. He said that he brought his family to Japan in order to go to Tokyo Disneyland. Shortly thereafter, he and the others were expelled from Japan.
Although no charges were pressed by the Japanese, the incident was embarrassing for the North Koreans. Not only was Kim Jong-nam’s indulgent choice of destination highly shameful, but he’d also exposed how North Korean elites could travel the world on fake passports.
Wikimedia CommonsFormer North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Kim Jong-nam’s father.
The Tokyo Disneyland incident seemingly changed the trajectory of Kim Jong-nam’s life, but it’s possible that other factors were also at work to keep him from attaining power in North Korea. Exposed to Western ideas at a young age, Kim Jong-nam purportedly advocated for political and economic reform in his country. A shocking Wall Street Journal report from 2019 even claimed that Kim Jong-nam was a source for the CIA.
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