BEIJING — The casino-loving eldest son of North Korea’s Kim Jong-Il — once tipped to succeed him before trying to sneak into Japan to go to Disneyland — says he opposes a hereditary transfer of power to his youngest half-brother.
It’s the first public sign of discord in the tightly choreographed succession process, though analysts said Kim Jong-Nam spends so much time outside his native land that his opinion carries little weight.
The chubby 39-year-old Kim, the oldest of three brothers, is the closest thing the country has to a playboy.
Kim travels freely and spends much of his time in China or its special autonomous region of Macau — the center of Asian gambling with its Las Vegas-style casinos. He sports the family pot belly and favors newsboy caps and an unshaven face, while frequenting five-star hotels and restaurants.
Speaking in Korean, he told Tokyo’s TV Asahi in an interview from Beijing aired late Monday and Tuesday that he is “against third-generation succession,” but added: “I think there were internal factors. If there were internal factors, (we) should abide by them.”
“I have no regrets about it. I wasn’t interested in it, and I don’t care,” Kim said, when asked whether he is OK with the succession plan.
Kim said he hopes his brother will do his best to bring abundance to the lives of North Koreans and that he stands ready to help from abroad, according to a dubbed Japanese-language version of his remarks.
Kim Jong-Un, believed to be 26, appeared with his father at Pyongyang celebrations on Sunday marking the 65th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party, saluting troops marching past in a military parade. and waving to the crowd.
Kim Jong-Il is known to have three sons — one from his second wife and two from his third. He favors his youngest, Jong-Un, who looks and is said to act like his father, according to the leader’s former sushi chef. He studied at a Swiss school and learned to speak English, German and French, news reports have said.
In contrast, Kim often derided the middle son, Jong Chul, as “girlish,” the chef, who goes by the pen name Kenji Fujimoto, said in a 2003 memoir.
