THE ELDEST son of North Korea’s late leader Kim Jong-il has predicted the regime would soon fail, with or without reforms, according to a new book based, the author says, on emails from and interviews with Kim Jong-nam.
The book says that Kim Jong-nam – who has never met the new leader, his half-brother Kim Jong-un – described the dynastic succession as “a joke to the outside world”, and said even his father had originally opposed the hereditary transfer of power.
“The Kim Jong-un regime will not last long,” Kim Jong-nam is said to have written, while also forecasting a power struggle.
“Without reforms, North Korea will collapse, and when such changes take place, the regime will collapse.”
He added: “I think we will see valuable time lost as the regime sits idle, fretting over whether it should pursue reforms or stick to the present political structure.”
The claims emerge in a book by Yoji Gomi, a journalist with Tokyo Shimbun, who said he exchanged emails with Kim Jong-nam over seven years. The date on which the remarks regarding the regime were made is unclear.
Gomi, who lived for years in Seoul and Beijing, said he met Kim three times in total, once in 2004 and twice in 2011.
“He gave me a very good impression. He’s very gentle and friendly,” Gomi said.
“We exchanged emails over some time, and when I suggested compiling our exchanges as a book, he agreed. At first he wanted publication to be delayed, but when I said we ought to go ahead because of everything that is happening in North Korea right now, he said that was okay.
“I don’t feel that he has any ambition to become leader of North Korea, but he wants to contribute to improving the situation in the country. He travels a great deal, but his base is in Macau.”
A publicist for the Bungei Shunju publishing company said the book would be published shortly.
Kim Jong-nam has previously offered relatively outspoken if brief remarks on the North to journalists who have tracked him down, but these reported messages go much further. Experts on North Korea cautioned that it was impossible to verify the details unless or until Kim Jong-nam confirmed he had written the emails. – ( Guardianservice)