A Japanese reporter who Kim Jong-nam confessed to himself, “Kim Jong-un could lose power within 10 years”

This is the title of a new book published by a Japanese expert on North Korea. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, deputy head of the Workers’ Party of Korea, is the author of this book, which will thrill you when you hear it. Specializes in Korean Peninsula issues. As the title of the book he published at the end of last month, will the day come when Chairman Kim Jong-un disappears into his arms? when will you come asked him “It is difficult to think that Kim Jong-un will suddenly lose power because he is still a young leader in his thirties,” he said. Commissioner Gomi became known as an expert on the Korean Peninsula while serving as the head of the Seoul bureau and a correspondent in Beijing.

Yoji Gomi (五味洋治) is a member of the editorial board in charge of the Korean Peninsula issue in the Tokyo Shimbun. He also served as a correspondent in Seoul and Beijing. provided by myself

What is the rationale? Commissioner Go-mi said, “It’s also a health problem.” . He added, “It is judged that North Korea is under considerable psychological stress due to the worsening economic situation, and there are also information that he is already suffering from several geriatric diseases.” Chairman Kim Jong-un convened the 8th Labor Party Congress in January and added a provision to establish a ‘general secretary’s agent’, but he saw it as a realistic preparation for fear of worsening health.

Cover of Commissioner Gomi’s new book, The Day Kim Jong-un Disappears from the Stage.

If Chairman Kim actually comes down from the stage, will his younger sister take over the succession? It is also significant that a photo of Kim Jong-un and Kim Yeo-jung was chosen as the cover of the book. Commissioner Gomi said, “As a white-headed brother, if an emergency happens to my brother, he will surely inherit power, even temporarily. Regarding the discourse relay that Vice-Chairman Kim Yeo-jung is putting out under her own name, Commissioner Go-mi explained, “Even reading those discourses, I do not think it is an independent judgment.”

For Chairman Kim Jong-un, Komi has a complicated mind. Go-mi was close to Kim Jong-nam, who was killed in Malaysia in 2017 as the older brother of Chairman Kim. After meeting Kim Jong-nam at the airport as a correspondent in Beijing in 2004, the two developed an e-mail exchange. The only external world that Kim Jong-nam had confided in was Commissioner Gomi.

Commissioner Gomi (right) met Kim Jong-nam at a hotel cafe in Macau in January 2011. [사진제공 고미 위원, 중앙포토]

The relationship with Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of Chairman Kim Jong-il and the ill-fated Crown Prince who was pushed out of the succession system, led to more than 150 e-mails and several face-to-face interviews. A book containing the contents of Commissioner Gomi was published in Korea as 『Hello, this is Kim Jeongnam』(Jungang M&B). After a series of incidents, such as attempting to enter Japan with a forged passport, Kim Jong-nam fell out of his father’s eyes and was then pushed out of the power struggle with his youngest brother, Kim Jong-un. The international community is skeptical that Chairman Kim Jong-un is behind the 2017 assassination, but no evidence has been found.

A photo of Kim Jong-nam (1st row right) as a child with his father Kim Jong-il, his aunt Sung Hye-rang (2nd row left), and his cousin Lee Han-yeong (2nd row right). Lee Han-young and Kim Jong-nam were also assassinated. [중앙포토]

I asked about Kim Jong-nam. Commissioner Gomi said, “It’s really frustrating that I couldn’t help.” He continued, “Honestly, it’s a complicated situation,” he said. However, just being alive was meaningful.” Immediately after the assassination, Commissioner Go-mi went to Malaysia to find the last traces of Kim Jong-nam, and said that he had heard from officials that “Kim Jong-nam lived a lonely life.”

Years have passed and this year marks the 10th anniversary of Chairman Kim Jong-un taking power after the sudden death of Kim Jong-il in 2011. Regarding Kim Jong-un as a leader, Commissioner Go-mi once published a book titled “Is Kim Jong-un a Leader of Madness and Solitude?” what do you think now “I don’t think he’s the leader of madness right now,” he said. “If you look at the diplomatic negotiations with (Donald) Trump or the improvement of inter-Korean relations, I think he has excellent diplomatic skills.”

Then-US President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong-un shake hands ahead of the first North Korea-US summit in Singapore on June 15, 2018. AP = Yonhap News

He asked about the future situation on the Korean Peninsula. “The purpose of North Korea is to improve relations with the United States in the end,” he said. He said, “Kim Jong-un is currently experiencing threefold difficulties in food shortages, the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), and flood damage,” he said.

By Jeon Su-jin, staff reporter chun.sujin@joongang.co.kr