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Kim Jong Chul

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(Redirected from Kim Jong-chul (political figure)) Son of Kim Jong Il (born 1981) For the South Korean poet, see Kim Jong-chul (poet). For the field hockey player, see Kim Jung-chul. For the North Korean athlete, see Kim Jong-chol (athlete). In this Korean name, the family name is Kim.

Kim Jong Chul
김정철
Born (1981-09-25) 25 September 1981 (age 43)
Pyongyang, North Korea
EducationKim Il Sung University
Political partyWorkers' Party of Korea
Parent(s)Kim Jong Il (father)
Ko Yong Hui (mother)
RelativesKim family
Korean name
Chosŏn'gŭl김정철
Hancha金正哲
Revised RomanizationGim Jeongcheol
McCune–ReischauerKim Chŏngch'ŏl

Kim Jong Chul (Korean: 김정철; born 25 September 1981), sometimes spelled Kim Jong Chol, 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.

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.

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 "‍ herself to the personal safety of the comrade supreme commander", and "‍ 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. 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. 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.

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.

2011–present

Kim Jong Chul was reportedly spotted in Singapore on 14 February 2011, where he was attending an Eric Clapton concert. 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.

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. Some analysts believe that this signalled an expanded role for Kim Jong Chul in the North Korean regime.

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.


Select family tree of North Korea's ruling Kim family
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?–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?–
Ri Sol-ju
c. 1986–
Kim Yo-jong
1987–
Kim Han-sol
1995–
Kim Ju-ae
c. 2012–
Notes:
  1. To keep the tree of manageable size, it omits five out of the seven known legitimate children of Kim Il Sung. Other children not shown in the tree are: Kim Man-il (1944-1947; child of Kim Jong Suk), Kim Kyong-jin (1952-; child of Kim Song-ae), Kim Yong-il (1955-2000; child of Kim Song-ae), and Kim Kyong Suk (1951-; child of Kim Song-ae). A stillborn daughter is also omitted. Kim Il Sung was reported to have had other children with women who he was not married to; they included Kim Hyŏn-nam (born 1972). Also, only some of the descendants of Kim Jong Il and Kim Jung Un (Kim Il Sung's successors) are included.
  2. 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.
  3. Huss, Kan; Frost, Clay. "North Korea's First Family: Mapping the personal and political drama of the Kim clan". msnbc.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2013. (Confirms many, but not all, of the birth and death years. See individual articles for more references.)
  4. 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.
  5. Lee, Sung-Yoon (2023). "The Mount Paektu Dynasty (Family Tree)". The Sister: The extraordinary story of Kim Yo Jong, the most powerful woman in North Korea. United Kingdom: Macmillan. p. x-xi. ISBN 9781529073539.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Birth year for Kim Ju-ae is not publicly known. She may have been born in either late 2012 or early 2013.


References

  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 October 2017. Retrieved 20 February 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Choe Sang-hun (28 April 2009). "Kim's Son Joins North Korean Defense Panel". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
  3. Fifield, Anna (12 June 2019). "Kim Jong-un's undercover adolescent years in Switzerland". POLITICO. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
  4. ^ "Kim Jong Chol – Leadership Succession – Democratic People's Republic of Korea." Global Security. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
  5. "Kim Jong-chul", BBC, 30 September 2010
  6. "N Korea 'names Kim's successor'". BBC. 2 June 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
  7. "Kim Jong-ils 2nd son sighted in Singapore". The Korea Times. 15 February 2011. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  8. "Kim Jong-un's brother visits London to watch Eric Clapton". BBC News. 22 May 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  9. Want China News, "Kim Jong-un's brother led arrest of Jang Sung-taek: source" Archived 14 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine, 12 December 2013.
  10. Zachary Keck and Ankit Panda, "North Korea Executes Leader's Uncle", The Diplomat, 13 December 2013.
  11. "North Korea's 'princess' now one of the secretive state's top policy makers". Reuters. 2017.
  12. Wonderful Tonight: Taking Kim Jong Un's brother to a Clapton concert

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.
Kim family of North Korea
Great Grandparents
  • Kim-Kim (North Korea) (Kim Il Sung's Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather)
  • Kim Gusta-Io I (Kim Il Sung's Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather)
  • Kim Ugu-io (Kim Il Sung's Great-Great-Great Grandfather)
  • Sal Sol-jan (Kim Il Sung's Great-Great-Great Grandmother)
  • Song-ryong Kim (Kim Il Sung's Great Great Grandfather)
  • Hyon-jik Na (Kim Il Sung's Great Great Grandmother)
  • Kim Ung-u (Kim Il Sung's Great grandfather)
  • Lady Lee (North Korea) (Kim Il Sung's Great Grandmother)
Great Grand Relatives
  • Kim Gusta-io II (Kim Il Sung's Great-Great-Great Uncle)
  • Rak Ja-sel (Kim Il Sung's Great-Great-Great-Aunt)
  • Kim Gus-tal (Kim Il Sung's Great-Great-Great Cousin)
  • Kim Ul-ae (Kim Il Sung's Great-Great-Great Nephew)
  • Jong-su Kim (Kim Il Sung's Great-Great Uncle)
  • In-sok Kim (Kim Il Sung's Great-Great Uncle)
Pre-Il Sung
1st generation
2nd generation
3rd generation
4th generation
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