BEIJING, Oct. 12: The casino-loving eldest son of North Korea’s Mr 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 that Mr Kim Jong Nam spends so much time outside his native land that his opinion carries little weight.
The chubby 39-year-old Mr Kim Jong Nam, the oldest of three brothers who were in the running to take over North Korea, is the closest thing the country has to a playboy. Unlike many of his countrymen who lack the resources and connections to travel overseas, Mr Kim Jong Nam travels freely and spends much of his time in China or the country’s special autonomous region of Macau — the centre of Asian gambling with its Las Vegas-style casinos.
Speaking in Korean, he told Japan’s TV Asahi, in an interview from Beijing aired late on 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,” Mr Kim Jong Nam said, when asked whether he is OK with the succession plan.