Kim Jong-Nam
Kim Jong-Nam is the oldest son of the departed "Dear Leader."
Jong-Nam was born in 1971 and for the first four years of his life his
existence was kept from his grandfather, the then-President and leader
of North Korea, Kim Il-Sung. Il-Sung was notoriously puritanical, and
Jong-Il worried he would disapprove of his marriage to Jong-Nam's mother
Sung Hae Rim, who had been previously married.
In 1998
Kim Jong-Nam was appointed to a high post in the Ministry of Public
Security. A high-profile position such as this, pointed towards the fact
that Jong-Nam was being groomed to succeed his father. A belief was
only strengthened when Jong-Nam was made the chairman of the DPRK
Computer Committee, a position that effectively put him in charge of
North Korea's technological future.
But in 2001, Jong-Nam
was arrested for traveling to Japan (on his way to Tokyo Disney) using a
fake Dominican passport. This unwanted attention on his family
infuriated Kim Jong-Il and led to Jong-Nam's falling out of favor. At
which point, Jong-Nam steered into the skid and announced that he had no
interest in replacing his father and instead embraced his playboy
lifestyle. It's been reported that he lives in Macau.
He has a dragon tattoo on his back. It is not believed the books are based on him.
Kim Jong-Chol
Little is known about Kim Jong-Il's second son, Kim Jong-Chol.
Educated at an international school in Switzerland, Jong-Chol went by
the pseudonym Pak Chol for protection. While there he wrote a poem that called for the elimination of nuclear weapons. It was featured in the book "Bipolar Orders: The Two Koreas Since 1989."
After
Jong-Nam's falling out of favor, it was believed that Jong-Chol was the
heir apparent, but that notion was quickly dismissed as Kim Jong-Il
reportedly believed that "Jong Chol is impossible because he is too
feminine." (That fact was first written about in the memoir of Kim
Jong-Il's sushi chef, "I Was Kim Jong Il's Cook." What an awesome
title.)
He was last spotted at an Eric Clapton concert in Singapore.
Kim Jong-Un
Kim Jong-Un, the youngest son of Kim Jong-Il was born in either
late-1983 or early-1984, and has been his father's heir apparent since
2009 when he was named to a position in the North Korean National
Defense Commission.
Jong-Un has always held something of a
favored place with his father, and they are said to be similar in many
ways (both have been known to have notoriously short fuses). He's been
driving cars and drinking alcohol since he was a child, and once
insisted that his younger sister call him "General Comrade" rather than
"brother." It is believed that he too was educated in Switzerland where
he learned to speak both English and German, but much of his childhood
is speculation (or hearsay) due to the secrecy of the North Korean
regime.
In 2010 Jong-Un was made a Daejang (the Korean
equivalent to a general), despite limited military experience. He was
also made a deputy chairman of the Central Military Commission of the
Workers' Party and a member of the party's central committee. All of
these appointments clearly pointed to his ascendance to power when his
father finally passed.
It is expected that North Korea will
now enter a three year mourning period, during which time Jong-Un's
power will slowly be consolidated. As he has only been in the public eye
(or as "public" an eye as is possible for a North Korean leader) for a
short time (unlike his father who had been groomed over a period of more
than a decade) it is believed that he will share some of the ruling
responsibilities with military leaders to start. At the end of the three
year period Jong-Un will formally take over for his father.
It is also known that he loves the Los Angeles Lakers. So there's that too.
