10 May 1971 - 13 February 2017
Kim Jong-Nam was the son of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and half-brother of Kim Jong Un. Jong-Nam was heir from 1994-2001.
In 2001, he was arrested in Japan with a fake passport in an attempt to visit Tokyo Disneyland. He was with two women and his son, aged 4. After being detained he was deported to China. Jong-nam lost favour with his father, Jong-nam stated it was because he advocated for reform and his father believed he had turned into a ‘capitalist’.
Jong-nam was exiled from North Korea in 2003 and became a critic of his family’s regime. His younger half-brother Kim Jong Un, was named heir in 2010. Jong Un had ties to China and remained a possible candidate to replace Jong Un.
In 2011 after his father died, Kim Jong Un became leader. Jong-nam stated that he expected his brother to fail due to his inexperience and youth. He stated that ‘without reforms, North Korea will collapse… and then the regime will collapse’. Jong-nam survived an assassination attempt in 2006 as well as in 2012. He had lived incognito in Macau with his family.
Jong-nam who usually travels alone was assassinated at the Malaysian Airport in 2017 with nerve agent VX by two young women, most likely on his brother’s orders. A woman in white ran up to him and covered his mouth with a wet cloth; he started feeling dizzy and informed airport officials who took him to the medic. He was then slumped on a chair, and was taken to the hospital where he died.
Four suspects left the airport and traveled back to Pyongyang. The two women, who directly murdered him, stated they were set up, after being told it was for a TV prank.
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