Kim Jong Nam, Older Brother Of North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Seeking Asylum In Seoul Amid 'Assassination Threat'

Older Brother Of North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Seeking Asylum In Seoul Amid 'Assassination Threat'

If rumours are to be believed, North Korean Kim Jong Un’s older brother is seeking asylum in South Korea amidst assassination threats.

Kim Jong Nam has requested shelter in Seoul, according to local media sources cited by the Korea Herald.

The 41-year-old was once regarded as the heir apparent to his late father, but apparently fell out of favour after his arrest in 2001 while trying to enter Japan on a forged passport, the paper added.

Scroll down for an interview with Kim Jong Nam's son Kim Han-Sol

Kim Jong Nam's current whereabouts are unconfirmed

It adds Nam had voiced opposition to the hereditary transfer of power in North Korea and claims a North Korean agent who was arrested in South Korea last month told interrogators he was ordered to assassinate Nam in July 2010.

Nam's son Kim Han-Sol recently gave an interview in which he talked of a "lonely" childhood in North Korea and revealed he had never met his grandfather Kim Jong II, who died on 17 December 2011 of a heart attack.

During the interview, which was aired on Finnish TV and posted on YouTube, the 17-year-old says: "I always wanted to meet him...I was actually waiting for him...until he passed away, hoping he would come find me, because I really don't know if he knew that I existed."

Han-Sol, who is studying in Bosnia said of his father: "My dad was not really interested in politics."

Of his uncle's succession to power, he said: "I don't really know why he became a dictator. It was between him and my grandfather."

The reclusive communist state is still technically at war with its neighbour South Korea and has been since 1950.

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