The Kim Jong-nam story was all a ruse!

Really, I'm telling you
these are not pajamas!

Remember that story of Kim Jong-nam being booted out of his Macau luxury digs because little brother Kim Jong-un got angry at him for questioning his ability to lead, badmouthing the regime, condemning hereditary succession, and predicting the collapse of the entire country? We all assumed that, yes, even fraternal love has its limits and Big Brother Jong-nam should run for fear of his life.

Well, it turns out that the entire episode wasn't true at all, according to the Macau hotel that supposedly had kicked out their famed deadbeat guest. It was apparently a ruse from a Russian media outlet that was trying to punk the rest of the world.

From the New York Times:

But the story, which apparently originated in Argumenti i Fakti, a Russian newsweekly, was not true, according to a spokeswoman for the hotel in question, the five-star Grand Lapa Macao.

A spokeswoman for the hotel, part of the Mandarin Oriental chain, denied the story categorically to Rendezvous. She said Mr. Kim, 40, had never stayed at the Grand Lapa nor had he run up any charges there. She did say that he popped up in Macau “from time to time,’’ but not at her hotel.

The Russian magazine even had quotes from “an unnamed source” at the hotel who said: “He gave us his Visa Gold card but it ended up having no money on the account.”

Boy I guess everyone has kyeran on their face (really, that's kyeran).

Not sure what to make of this. One wonders if someone was running a systems analysis to see how various parties would react. For example, would Seoul's or Washington's or Tokyo's intelligence apparatus scramble to see if they could take KJN under their protective wing?

Anyway, my earlier plan (prior to this news story) is still intact: the next time I'm in Macau I'm going to see if I can track him down in one of the casino piano bars and do a Monster Island interview. That would be quite the coup (and probably the only coup we'll ever see associated with Kim Jong-nam).

UPDATE:
One prominent K-blogging figure responded to this story by saying, "There is such an intelligence black hole with North Korea that people are starting to make shit up."

To which I replied: "Starting?!" The Western, South Korean, Japanese, and lately even European media has long been making up stuff to fill the void of information they don't know.

Over at One Free Korea, commenter Spelunker referred to the "unreliable obscure source" as "bad news." And that has inspired me to refer to such questionable Russian information sources as the "bad news bears."

Questionable information sources from North Korea, especially those adding Kim Jong-un's name to the official hagiography, will continue to be called "grim fairy tales."

...

Kim Jongnam, oldest and most prodigal son of Kim Jong-il, opposed to Dynastic Transfer 2.0

That might explain why he turned down the job. From AP, via WaPo:

The eldest son of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il says he opposes a hereditary transfer of power to a third generation of his family.

Kim Jong Nam's remarks come after North Korea unveiled his younger half brother, Kim Jong Un, as successor to their father in Pyongyang.

Japan's TV Asahi showed Kim making the remarks in footage aired Tuesday from an interview in Beijing on Saturday.

Kim Jong Nam was once considered likely to succeed his father. He reportedly fell out of favor after being caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport in 2001.

Now lest you think our buddy Jongnam has a death wish of some kind, he did hint that he could get behind it if it's a done deal:

He said that while he was against the succession, it should still be accepted if there are internal factors for carrying it out.

Smart move. Maybe now they won't be gunning for you.

Kim Jong-nam is all right in my book. Sure, he's living high on the hog thanks to his father's kleptocracy, but he doesn't seem to want any part of the murderous regime. Frankly, I think by going on the record opposing transfer of power to himself or any of his siblings, he's inadvertently positioning himself to be a transitional leader if something goes awry.

UPDATE:
The Economist is now carrying the story, which includes more of Kim Jong-nam's interview, including some kind words for his younger brother:

"As a matter of course, I think it was my father who made the decision. As I have had no interest in the matter, I don't care at all," he said.

He added that he also hope that his brother could improve living standards in North Korea which remains desperately poor as a result of crippling economic sanctions and a Soviet-style command-economy.

"I hope my younger brother will do his best to make the lives of the North Korean people affluent. For my part, I am prepared to help my younger brother whenever necessary while I stay abroad."

Yeah, if I were him, I'd stay as far away from the DPRK as possible, too.