Kim Jong-chul (Korean: 김정철; born 25 September 1981), sometimes spelled Kim Jong Chol,^[1] is a son of former North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Il. His younger brother is current Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. His older half-brother Kim Jong-nam was assassinated in February 2017.

In 2007, Jong-chul was appointed deputy chief of a leadership division of the Workers' Party of Korea. However, on 15 January 2009, the South Korean Yonhap News Agency reported that Kim Jong Il appointed his youngest son, Jong-un, to be his successor, passing over Jong-nam and Jong-chul. These reports were supported in April 2009 when Kim Jong Un assumed a low-level position within the ruling Workers' Party since Kim Jong Il was groomed by his own father, Kim Il Sung, in a similar way before becoming North Korean leader in 1994.^[2]

Early life

Kim Jong-chul was born in 1981. He is the son of Kim Jong Il and companion Ko Yong-hui, who died in 2004. He was educated at the International School of Berne with younger brother Kim Jong Un.^[3]

Heir apparent

In February 2003, moves began to raise the profile of Kim Jong-chul. The Korean People's Army began a propaganda campaign using the slogan "The Respected Mother is the Most Faithful and Loyal Subject to the Dear Leader Comrade Supreme Commander". Since the "Respected Mother" was described as "‍[devoting] herself to the personal safety of the comrade supreme commander", and "‍[assisting] the comrade supreme commander nearest to his body", Western analysts assume that the "Respected Mother" was Ko Yong-hui, mother of Kim Jong-chul and Kim Jong Un.^[4] A similar campaign was launched in praise of Kim Jong Il's mother (Kim Jong-suk) during the later years of Kim Il Sung's life.^[4] This suggested that Kim Jong-chul, despite his youth, had emerged with Army backing to be a serious contender to succeed his father.

However, Kenji Fujimoto, Kim Jong Il's personal sushi chef, wrote in his memoir, I Was Kim Jong-il's Cook, that Kim Jong Il thought Jong-chul was "no good because he is like a little girl". Fujimoto believed Kim Jong Il favoured his youngest son, Kim Jong Un.^[5]

On 1 June 2009, it was reported that Kim Jong-chul had been passed over as his younger brother, Kim Jong Un, was to succeed his father as the head of the Workers' Party of Korea and de facto head of state of North Korea.^[6]

2011–present

Kim Jong-chul was reportedly spotted in Singapore on 14 February 2011, where he was attending an Eric Clapton concert.^[7] In late 2011, his father died and his younger brother, Kim Jong Un, succeeded his father as the head of state. He was again apparently spotted attending two additional Clapton concerts on successive days at the Royal Albert Hall in London, in May 2015.^[8]

According to Lee Yun-keol (as reported by Wen Wei Po), chairman of the North Korea Strategy Information Service Center, Kim Jong-chul personally led the arrest of his uncle Jang Song-thaek in 2013.^[9] Some analysts believe that this signalled an expanded role for Kim Jong-chul in the North Korean regime.^[10]

Kim Jong-chul does not involve himself in politics, leading a quiet life in Pyongyang where he plays guitar in a band, according to Thae Yong-ho, North Korea's former deputy ambassador in London who defected to the South.^[11][12]

Select[lower-greek 1] family tree of North Korea's ruling Kim family[lower-greek 2][lower-greek 3][lower-greek 4]
Kim Song-ryeong 1810–1899 Kim Ung-u 1848–1878 Kim Bo-hyon 1871–1955 Kim Hyong-jik 1894–1926 Kang Pan-sok 1892–1932 Kim Jong-suk 1917–1949 Kim Il Sung 1912–1994 Kim Song-ae 1924–2014 Kim Yong-ju 1920–2021 Kim Young-sook 1947– Song Hye-rim 1937–2002 Kim Jong Il 1941?[lower-greek 5]–2011 Ko Yong-hui 1952–2004 Kim Ok 1964– Kim Kyong-hui 1946– Jang Song-thaek 1946–2013 Kim Pyong Il 1954– Kim Sol-song 1974– Kim Jong-nam 1971–2017 Kim Jong-chul 1981– Kim Jong Un 1983?[lower-greek 6]– Ri Sol-ju c. 1986– Kim Yo-jong 1987– Kim Han-sol 1995– Kim Ju-ae c. 2012[lower-greek 7]–
Notes: ↑ To keep the tree of manageable size, it omits five out of the eight known children of Kim Il Sung. Other children not shown in the tree are: Kim Man-il, Kim Kyong-jin, Kim Yong-il, Kim Hyŏn-nam, and Kim Yŏng-il ↑ Korean names often have a variety of transliterations into English, which can be confusing. For example, "Kim Jong-chul" may also be written "Gim Jeong-cheol" or "Kim Jŏng-ch'ŏl" among many other variations. See Korean romanization for more information. ↑ Huss, Kan; Frost, Clay. "North Korea's First Family: Mapping the personal and political drama of the Kim clan". msnbc.com. Retrieved 20 January 2013. (Confirms many, but not all, of the birth and death years. See individual articles for more references.) ↑ Yan, Holly (16 February 2017). "The world's most mysterious family tree: Kim Jong Un's secretive dynasty is full of drama, death". Design by Alberto Mier. CNN. Retrieved 16 February 2017. ↑ Official North Korean biographies of Kim Jong Il list his birth year as 1942. The Korean calendar is based upon the Chinese zodiac which is believed to characterize one's personality. The year 1942 (Year of the Horse), in addition to being 30 years since Kim Il Sung's birth may be viewed as a better year than others, thus creating a motive to lie about a birth year. ↑ Official North Korean biographies of Kim Jong Un list his birth year as 1982. The Korean calendar is based upon the Chinese zodiac which is believed to characterize one's personality. The year 1982 (Year of the Dog), in addition to being 70 years since Kim Il Sung's birth, may be viewed as a better year than others, thus creating a motive to lie about a birth year. ↑ Birth year for Kim Ju-ae is not publicly known. She may have been born in either late 2012 or early 2013.

References

Further reading

• Bradley Martin, Under The Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader: North Korea and the Kim Dynasty, St. Martins (2004), hardcover, 868 pages, ISBN 0-312-32221-6
• Kenji Fujimoto. I Was Kim Jong Il's Cook.