The Untold Story of Kim Jong-un’s Brother

Brut America

Kim Jong-un had him assassinated in public. This is the untold story of his half brother Kim Jong-Nam.

Transcript

00:00They are using all these beautiful ladies, it's the biggest weapon.

00:04Kim Jong-un had him assassinated in public.

00:07This is the story of Kim Jong-nam,

00:09the half-brother who was supposed to be the supreme leader of North Korea.

00:30Hello, everyone.

00:35This week I'll be telling you the story of an assassination

00:38that made headlines around the world.

00:40In 2017, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia,

00:43two women spread the North Korean dictator's half-brother with a neurotoxic agent.

00:48With this act, Kim Jong-un sends a strong message.

00:50He proves that he can strike anywhere, anytime,

00:53and even against his own family members.

01:00It's the morning of February 13th, 2017,

01:03at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the capital of Malaysia.

01:07Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of the Korean dictator Kim Jong-un,

01:11is traveling under the false name Kim Chol.

01:25As he waits for his flight to Macau,

01:27he is approached by a young woman.

01:30Moments later, a second woman approaches him from behind

01:33and presses a cloth soaked in liquid onto his face.

01:42Feeling dizzy, Kim Jong-nam heads to the information counter to seek help.

01:47Taken to the airport clinic, he starts convulsing.

01:55To understand how we got here, let's first take a little flashback.

02:00Kim Jong-nam was born in 1971 in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.

02:30This dynasty is made up of three leaders.

02:32Kim Il-sung, who was the first leader of North Korea,

02:36followed by Kim Jong-il, his son, and Kim Jong-un, the current leader.

02:41Kim Jong-nam is the product of an affair

02:43between North Korean actress Song Hee-rim and Kim Jong-il,

02:47the son of the founder of the North Korean regime, Kim Il-sung.

03:00As a high-ranking official of the regime,

03:03Kim Jong-il threatens to execute anyone who speaks of his private life.

03:06Kim Jong-nam grows up out of the public eye,

03:08but shares privileged moments with his father.

03:10Using fake passports, they visit amusement parks in Japan.

03:30By the late 1980s, Kim Jong-il distances himself from Kim Jong-nam's mother

03:48and marries a dancer named Ko Young-hee.

03:51Together, they have three children, including Kim Jong-un.

04:00As a teenager, Kim Jong-nam leaves North Korea to Geneva to continue his studies.

04:21In 1994, Kim Il-sung dies. His son, Kim Jong-il, takes over.

04:30Kim Jong-il has had several decades to prepare for his arrival in power.

04:38He has been able to climb the ladder, to have extremely important positions,

04:42and so the fact that he is the successor was, in quotes, an achievement.

04:46In 1994, Kim Il-sung dies. His son, Kim Jong-il, takes over.

04:52Kim Jong-nam was indeed sent to take over North Korea.

04:58But Kim Jong-il was quite disappointed by the way he managed the posts he was entrusted with.

05:04He was a bit of a disgrace.

05:12The North Korean leaders, especially Kim Jong-un when he was young,

05:16and Kim Jong-nam, have met several times in Japan and at Disneyland.

05:22As the eldest son of the Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-nam is destined to lead North Korea upon his father's death.

05:30Accompanied by two women and his four-year-old son, he attempts to visit Disneyland in Japan.

05:36Upon arrival at the Tokyo airport, he is arrested by Japanese authorities with fake Dominican passports.

05:42After a few days in detention, he is finally released.

05:46Humiliated on the national stage, his father cancels a diplomatic trip to China.

05:50Kim Jong-nam is definitively sidelined from the succession race.

05:54Kim Jong-il was extremely unhappy.

05:57But that was not the only reason why Kim Jong-nam was disgraced.

06:02In fact, he felt perfectly unsuitable for North Korea.

06:06And it was at that moment that he wanted to exile in Macau.

06:10When Kim Jong-il dies in 2011, it is his third son, Kim Jong-un, who succeeds him.

06:33Kim Jong-un is now in power.

06:38When Kim Jong-un comes to power, he must demonstrate his authority and his ability to ensure the stability of the regime.

06:46And one of the striking events is the way in which the young leader got rid of his uncle, Jang Song-thaek,

06:54who had actually become the number two of the regime, who had become extremely influential.

06:59Jang Song-thaek took too much importance.

07:02He was very much in favor of an opening policy, an economic opening.

07:07He has accumulated a lot of money.

07:10He used his personal connections abroad and Kim Jong-un took advantage of it.

07:16There was a demonstration in December 2013 when Kim Jong-un got rid of his uncle in an extremely media-friendly, extremely symbolic way.

07:27We see Jang Song-thaek, his head down, being arrested in the middle of a meeting.

07:32Accused of plotting a coup, Jang Song-thaek is sentenced to death in a summary trial.

07:37A few days later, Kim Jong-un has his uncle executed by machine gun.

07:42The execution of Jang Song-thaek was staged as a real play.

07:50It was a real message.

07:52This message was intended for all North Koreans abroad to tell them,

07:57be careful, don't betray me because I am capable of executing a traitor even within my own family.

08:09When Kim Jong-un comes to power, Kim Jong-nam is still living in exile in Macau with his family.

08:15Some friends in Macau and Hong Kong who visited him talk about Kim Jong-nam as a good man who enjoyed life,

08:25who enjoyed playing with money, but who didn't really want to replace Kim Jong-un.

08:33On several occasions, Kim Jong-nam speaks to the Japanese press about his half-brother's rise to power.

08:46It was a first camouflage that Kim Jong-un didn't appreciate.

08:51Kim Jong-nam expressed himself in a way that was a bit too visible on the North Korean regime and on the exercise of his brother's power.

09:03North Korean leaders don't like to be told their secrets, and Kim Jong-nam began to be too loquacious.

09:10Kim Jong-nam benefited from the protection of foreign services.

09:14It has been proven that he had contacts with Park Geun-hye, who was the president of South Korea,

09:20and he was also suspected of having ties with the CIA.

09:25So all these slightly hidden ties with South Korea, the foreigners, these slightly too open statements,

09:32have displeased Kim Jong-un, hence this reason to eliminate him.

09:38At Kuala Lumpur International Airport's clinic, Kim Jong-nam is convulsing.

09:44He is declared dead upon arrival at the hospital.

09:57The autopsy will reveal that Kim Jong-nam was poisoned with VX, an extremely potent neurotoxic agent.

10:08The two women who sprayed him with the toxic agent were arrested shortly after.

10:15The investigation will reveal they were duped by North Korean secret agents.

10:20They thought they were pranking their victim for a reality TV show.

10:25They are using always beautiful ladies as the biggest weapon.

10:29This is a propaganda tool, so even the spies.

10:32Two years after the assassination, they were released by Malaysian authorities.

10:37To this day, no one has been convicted for the murder of Kim Jong-nam.

10:41The North Korean authorities spotted on the surveillance video managed to flee.

10:45For his part, Kim Jong-un has never claimed responsibility for the assassination.

10:55From the moment a person in a family is suspected of treason,

11:01his entourage and his family are also guilty.

11:25I'm currently with my mother and my sister.

11:29We hope this gets better soon.

11:33It is obvious that Kim Jong-nam's son is in danger.

11:41We don't know where he is.

11:43We know he studied in Sciences Po in France.

11:46He lives anonymously abroad in fear of a North Korean attack.

12:16For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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