China ‘protecting Kim Jong-nam’

Interviewed over the space of seven years, via email and in person, Kim
expressed high hopes for North
Korea
, although the three main points he voiced after the death of
his father in December are unlikely to have been welcomed in Pyongyang.

Kim expressed fear that the country is being run by an inexperienced young man
who is likely to be acting at the behest of other forces, and that without
economic reforms similar to those carried out in China, he could fall from
power. Secondly, he voiced strong opposition to the hereditary transfer of
power to his half-brother – and claims his father had been equally against
the idea not long ago – as it runs completely counter to socialist
philosophy. And, finally, he is a strong advocate of a “people-first”
policy, instead of the North’s present “military-first” ideal.

Kim also gave the impression of being genuinely concerned about the future of
his homeland – not an accusation that can be levelled at other senior
members of a regime that, if some reports are to be believed, spends the
nation’s wealth on sumptuous palaces, private yachts and trains, as well as
the finest food and drink that money can buy.

“I got the impression that he was a person you could talk to, someone you
could have as a friend, someone you could trust,” said Gomi, who struck
up a friendship with Kim after a chance encounter in Beijing Airport.

There were some issues that Kim was unwilling to discuss with Gomi, including
the state of his father’s health, his relationship with the rest of the
leadership in Pyongyang, the North’s nuclear ambitions, military issues or
the abduction of Japanese nationals. He was also reluctant to go into the
reason that, it has been speculated, was the cause of him falling out of
favour with his father and his half-brother eventually inheriting a post
that he had reportedly groomed for.

Kim was arrested in May 2001 trying to enter Japan on a forged Dominican
Republic passport with two women and a boy aged 4, telling police that he
wanted to visit Disneyland. To Gomi, he also revealed that Kim Jung-on and
other senior North Koren officials had travelled on forged passports
frequently, but that came to a halt after his own – very public and
humiliating – arrest.

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