he video begins with no fanfare, no preamble. A lone gure, a young man in black, sits in front of a stark white backdrop. His hair is tousled, He fidgets. L streams in from his right, but there is nothing 0 iden tify where he is or whom he’s with He wains his eyes on the camera. “I'm ftom North Korea," he saysin English. To prove it, he holds up a passport. Emblazoned on the front is coat of arms featuring Mount Packtu, the sacred and still-active vvoleano in the far north of the Korean Penin: sil, where the Kims trace an ancestry they Claim gives the family ts right to rule He looks off to his let, pausin his thoughts. “My & days ago." Though the video was released on ‘March 7of this 10 Pyong} her bas been killed afew a month before Ttaveled ig, the reference tothe death indi cates it was filmed weeks earlier. His voice is jumpy but composed, He does not mention wsbuthesayshe’s safe There is one clue: an insignia atthe top of a7 the sereen, in both English and Korean, that reads “Cheollima Civil Defense.” Ac neollima isa mythical winged horse capable of fying vast distances. e'sa popular name in North Korea for everything from streets to fonts; a statue of one looms over downtown Pyongyang It ed this North, gives the name ofthe group, which seems to have hel Korean flee, a symbolic meat ng that's at once serious and ironic. He concludes by saying he hopes his situation will get etter, The forty-one-second video then cuts to black ‘The young man’s name is Kim Han Sol. His father, Kim Jong Nam, was assassinated in an airport in Kuala Lampir in February: The per son widely believed responsible for issuing the crderis Kim Jong Nam's half brother, the chair rman of the Workers’ Party of Korea, and the ne Democra Republic of Korea: Kim Jong Un. supreme | People’s Kim Jong Un may be the ator. But with he's world’s youngest sitting di his nuclear bombs and ballistic missile cia4. Kim dong asa boy, mith ifthe, Kim Sug, is mathe Kin Jong Suk 2. Ayrung Kin Jeg Un wh is rather Ke Yong Ha 2 Kilong Nom Geated igit) th hi father Kin slong in 1961, Al. thre stonding hic Imotemal aan Song Hye Pons snd hiscouin Nea Ok (ante) an Rit Non—weuld ter defo om the DPRK already among the most dangerous. On July Fourth, he gave what he gloated was an Independence Day “gift” to the “American bas tards”: the successful test launch of an intereonti missile designed to obliterate American cities. Once his nuclear scientists get a warhead small enough to fit on the Hwasong-14 missile, he'll have a weapon capable of wreaking unimaginable destruction, ‘There is no question how important bombs and missiles are 1 the North Koreans. But the goal is not to carry out a first strikes with ‘eighty thousand U.S. troops across Northeast Asia backed by a fleet ‘of nuclear-powered weaponry, the North Koreans know such a move would be suicide. Kim Jong Un wants to prove his strength to the peo ple he leads, to cause enouigh concer to force the international com munity to acknowledge the DPRK as a nuclear state, and to get the U.S. to the negotiating table—for aid and concessions, if not a peace treaty to finally, offically, end the Korean War. While Kim stares down his enemies abroad, it’s easy to forget that he’s also fighting a battle from within his own borders: to sur vive at all casts. Like any autocratic leader, he’s under constant pressure to maintain order and allegiance. But his youth and inex perience make staying in power that much more of a challenge, ‘which in tur requires absolute control. Opposition must be elim inated. No one is safe, not even his owa family ‘Three weeks belore his video appeared on YouTube, Kim Han Sol was in Macau with bis teenage sister, Sol Hui, who'd just graduated froma nearby Anglican high sclool, and his mother, Ri Hye Kyong, ‘Macau was more home to them than Pyongyang. They'd moved 10 the former Portuguese colony, forty miles west of Hong Kongand nov ‘under Chinese control, inthe early 2000s ta seek refuge from North Korea, In Macau, the family lived under the proteetion of local police and could move around with relative ease, There they were safe ital ballistie On February 13, Kim Jong Nam was not with them. He was visit ing Kuala Lumpur, a four-hour plane ride away, using a DPRK pass port under the name Kim Chol—the North Korean equivalent of John Smith. There are few places inthe world where a North Korean citizen can travel without diplomatic hassle. Malaysia is one. “That morning, Kim Jong Nam headed to Kuala Lumpur Interna tional Airport to catch a flight back to his family. Terminal 2 was bus tling with travelers that day, trom European backpackers in sandals to Malaysian women in ornately printed hijubs. esas the start ofthe Lunar New Year, and banners featuring baby chicks festooned the airport walls in celebration of the Year of the Rooster. ‘What happened next was captured on closed-circuit television later broadeast by a Japanese TV network. Kim Jong Nam, dressed ina T-shirt, jeans, and a summer blazer, strides into the terminal He is alone and bas no luggage, save fora black backpack slung over his shoulder. He stops briefly to check a fight display, then moves toward a line of check-in kiosks. A woman in white approaches him from behind, There is abrief tussle as she reaches around and wipes a cloth across his face. Another woman squeezes in and swipes his cheeks. Seconds later, both slip away, heading in opposite diveetions and disappearing into the crowd Kim lurches toward the information desk, where he interrupts an employee and gestures frantically at his eyes. Police accompany him to the airport’ health clini, though they don't appear to beina hurry; Kim walks on his own, Buta photograph taken minutes later shows him slumped in a chair in the elinic, arms outstretched, eyes alazed. He suffered a seizure, police would later say. Kim died minutes later, in a hospital-bound ambulance. He was forty-five. Toxicology reports revealed that he was poisoned with the banned nerve agent VX, short for “venomous agent X." The dose was composed of two tasteless and odorless chemicals that are benign ‘on their ovn but deadly once mixed—a possible explanation for drop can kill within minutes: the sub- the two face swipes. A singh stance can linger for up to balf an hour, potentially exposing scores in a crowded space like an airport terminal. Developed durin cold war for military warfare, iis classified by the United Nations as September 2017 Esquire 87a weapon of mass destruction. According to South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, VX is just one part of DPRK's chemical-weap: ‘ons arsenal, te total size of which they estimate to be twenty-five hundred to five thousand metric tons. try, which is about the size of Virginia, was denuded of trees decades ago, Around the time of Kim Jong Nam's assassination, soldiers, teach- ers, factory workers, and trafic controllers were donning theit warm fest winter jackets to lay red flowers reminiscent ofthe late leader's namesake kimjongilia begonta atthe foot of his statue on Mansu Hill University students danced in public plazas to “Song of CNC”—an ‘ode to computerization—jackets flapping as they twirled, Children ripped open gift packets to suck on the sweet candy inside. It was a time of celebration, ebruary in North Korea is brutal. Fieree Siberian winds sweep across the country with nat respite or obstruction: Much of the habitable land in the coun: In the days after Kim Jong Nam's death, there was no word of i ‘on North Korean state media, Without acknowledging the incident, Kim Jong Un presided over lavish festivities for a holiday honoring the February 16 birth of thei father, Kim Jong l, known as the Day of the Shining Star—an anniversary that is marked with the same mix of solemnity and festivity as Jesus’ birth in the Bible Belt The Kims are everything, and everywhere, in North Kovea. Bronze statues of Kim Jong Il and his father, Kim II Sung, the first leader of | the DPRK, loom over the city. Massive mosaics chart the mythology of their heroie feats. Their portraits cover the walls of every offic home, and school, and the loyalty badge pinned to the shirt over th heart of every adult in this nation of 24 million people Ollicially, North Korea cals itself a socialist state. In reality, it ‘operates like an absolute monarchy. Kim TI Sung, the self-proclaimed guerrilla fighter and the DPRK's spiritual figurehead since its forma: tion in 1948, was placed in power by the USSR at the outset of the ‘cold war. He was the Soviets’ man in Pyongyang, meant to install and maintain a communist regime. But Kim knew that ruling with a hammer anda sickle wouldn't be enough to command the devotion ofa people who'd just survived nearly four decades of Japanese occu- 98 September 2017 Eaquire pation, a period defined by systematic attempts to stamp out their Jnguage and culture. He and his political strategists drew heavily on Korean history and culture, in addition to mysticism, shamanism, and Christianity, to eraft their singular version of Marxism-Lenin ism. They ereated a social order built around a eult of personal ity that was both familiar and new. Its guiding principle was called juuche, 1 nationalistic ideology of self-reliance that inspired a sense ‘of pride—and it was used to justify xenophobic, isolationist, total itarian policies. Like the founder of ancient Korea thousands of years before him, Kim also claimed ancestry ina lineage forged on Mount Paektu, the volcano that has held spiritual significance for Koreans for centuries To be “descended” from the mountain meant that he spring —were godlike. But mythology alone wasn’t enough to keep order. For decades, the Kims have purged, exiled, and exccuted their enemies, often with scant of no proof of wrongdoing. People disappear all the time from North Korea, even at the highest levels of leadership. Assassinations and his off are carried out in seeret, and rarely acknowledged publicly. For North Koreans and foreigners alike, the best way to figure out who's in power and who's been purged is to keep an eye on state-media coverage of formal events. The names of oificials are listed in order of seniority and importance; omissions often indicate that a person has been removed from power, or even executed, Yoji Gomi, a Japanese journalist who covers North Korea, corre sponded with Kim Jong Nam in the mid-2000s. Gomi told me Kim's a message that North Korea will not tolerate any anti~North Korean views. tsa threat, a strong warning” By the early 1970s, Kim Il Sung, then in his sixties, had been the DPRK's leader for more than two decades. Succession was on his mind, but it wasn’t yet clear who among his relatives would inherit power Kim Jong UL, the president’ elder son, proved his mettle by outma- neuvering Kims from what he called kpotkaji—“side branches” in need of pruning. “In order to show his father that he was the most loyal, he mercilessly attacked and got rid of the associates he selected for reasons like having the wrong ideals," Hwang Jang Yop, ‘high-ranking party secretary who'd helped Kim Il Sung conceive jucke, wrote in a memoir after he defected to South Korea in 1997.4. Kin athe Kuo Lemp oipor's mete station mindes cRerkis foce vo nied shorty afer 2. Thres woos late, fis on, Kin Han Sal reensed ceo indleatig he was in hang Aso press First, Kim Jong Il engineered th relocation of his uncle, then a rising star in the ruling Workers’ Party, to remote Fagang Province Meanwhile, Kim's half brother, son of the president's second wife ‘was dispatched to a succession of North Korean embassies in Eastern Europe, where today he serves as ambassador to the Czech Republic, tethered to the regime burt far from its center of power In 19 ‘mittee, was recognized internally as heir apparent. But ie was a full Kim Jong Il then the seeretary ofthe party's Central Com twenty years before he took over, after Kim Il Sung died of a heart attack in 1994, The Dear Leader ascended to the head of state in what became the communist world’s first hereditary transfer of power Kim Jong Nam was born into this world of court intrigue, in Pyongyang in 1971, to Kim Jong Il and his then-lover. Kim's birth, like his death, was never announced in state media. But he ‘was doted on by his father: Diplomats were ordered to bring back expensive toys for his son, ineluding diamond watches and gold plated guns. Father and son were driven around in matching Cacil- lacs. According to close Kim relative, the bill for the young Kim’s Javish birthday parties rin more than $1 millon, ina country where the yearly GDP at the time was less than $500 per person. When Kim Jong Nam was three, his mother suffered a nervous breakdown that required medical care in Moscow. Kim joined her when he was eight, but he was so unaccustomed to life outside the royal palace that he urinated in his pants rather than use Russia's publie toilets, recalled Song Hye Rang, his ‘maternal aunt, in her 2000 memoir, Wiste- ria House. He was sent back to Pyongyang to live with his aunt and her children, Ri Il Nam and Ri Nam Ok. A 1981 family portrait (see page 97) shows a pudgy Kim Jong Nam in shorts and sneakers, hs feet barely touch: ing the oor, his father next to im, his aunt and two cousins standing over his shoulder. ‘The cousins would later recall et-Skiing off ‘Wonsan beach, watching foreign movies, and fading South Korean books with Kim— unimaginable, and illicit, luxuries for the aver- age North Korean. Kim Jong Il began grooming his eldest child fora future in polities, as his father had done with him, bringing him t his ofiee, He dressed the boy inthe military uniform ofthe marshal of the Korean People’s Army. “This is where you'll be giving orders.” Kim Jong. I said, aceording to his cousin, & a z his wife, and two boys and a git with another mistress. Kim Jong Un ‘was the younger of those two sons, born while Kim Jong Nam was off at boarding school in Geneva. As he'd done with bis eldest son 1 decade earlier, the Deat Leader bedecked his youngest son in ful military uniform. Kim Jong I's sushi chef, a Japanese man who pub- lished a memoir in 2003 under the pen name Kenji Fujimoto, wrote that when he first met Kim Jong Un, then seven, fitced like “a litde general” A certain ruthlessness seemed to shine through even then: “He glared at me with a menacing look when we shook hands. I wll never forget the look in his eyes, which seemed to be saying: “This is one despicable Fapanese guy. his survival-of-the-fittest culture put the futures of Kim Jong Nam's close relatives in jeopardy. Some stayed in Pyongyang; others fled. In 1982, Ri Il Nam, ‘one of the cousins who was raised with Kim Jong Nam, decided he wanted to live the “American dream,” according to tell-all memoir he published under an assumed name titled Taedong River Royal Family. He called the South Korean embassy in Switzerland, where he was then enrolled in school, The asking for advice on how to seek asylum in the United States. ambassador instead convinced him to defect to Seoul In his memoir, Ri recounted a circuitous, ifrelatively comfortable, route that took him from Switzerland to France, Belgium, ‘many, and the Philippines, where he caught alight to Seoul Contrast that with the trials most North Korean defectors endure: Many don’t have passports or travel permits and rust bribe their way to the Chinese border Because China has a policy of sending defe tors back to North Korea, they must make their way on foot or by bus toa safe house oF a refugee camp in third country —La0s, oF Vietnam, or Thailand—before they are able to reach South Korean embassies to seek asylum. The process ean take years. Rilived quietly in Seoul under an assumed J name and, thanks to plastic surgery, a mew look. In 1995, broke and desperate for ‘money, he agreed to call his aunt, Kim Jong. Nam's mother, in Moscovs in exchange for $5,000 from # Seoul-based magazine that But Kim Jong Nam soon had competition for the affections of the man he ealled Papa. ‘Over the next two decades, Kim Jong Il had at least four more children: a daughter with (On duly Fourth n what Nort Korean state ‘media cold “pote U.S, Kin ong Un ‘iececfly ested a mizae that when perfeted val be obletoreoch Los Angales in 20 minutes wanted to air the conversation ive. Ie was Ri's own mother, Song Hye Rang, ‘eho picked up the phone. The call was the first time they had (continued on page 148)KINGS OF COMMUNISM (continued from page 99) KIN | | spoken in fourteen years. The two spoke reg- ‘larly for two months before Song decided 10 defect, t00. “Thad to choose,” Song wrote in Wisteria House, “I could tell the leader everything and ‘g0 back to Pyongyang, or take this chance to Teave to the West.” Ifshe confessed, Kim Jong I probably “would not punish me, but he ‘would not allow me to leave Pyongyang,” she ‘wrote. “Even if there were plenty of books and could take twelve baths a day and eatall kinds ofdelicacies, the residence was a prison to me At the time, most North Koreans would have considered one warm bath a month a luxury. Ie as a grim time to be an ordinary citizen in the DPRK. The country, already. suffering from the loss of the safety net ‘once provided by the Soviet Union, was in the throes of an unprecedented famine. For decades, most North Koreans had relied on the state to provide meals through a central- ized rationing system. But by the late 1990s, the state had nothing left to feed its peo- ple. Halfa million North Koreans starved to death, according to conservative estimates, in twhae became known as the “Arduous March,” ‘Meanvohile, inthe royal palace, luxuries over~ flowed. Kim Jong I, it was revealed, was the world’s largest customer of Hennessy cognac in 1992 and 1993, reportedly racking up a yeaty tab as high as $800,000. In 1996, Ri published his memoir. He described growing up in the lavish household he called a “fancy prison.” There, he said, the supreme leader presided over parties with strippers that develved into orgies. When one Wife threatened to report the bucehanalian fes- tivities to Kim Il Sung, Ri wrote, her husband shot her to death in Kim Jong I's presence. ‘Six months after the book's release, in Feb- ruary 1997, almost exactly twenty years 10 the day before Kim Jong Nam's death, Ri stepped out of his building's elevator and was shot in the head. Ri’s death spooked his sister, Ri Nam Ok, ‘who'd fled North Korea in 1992. Before she left, she'd written a note for her uncle Kim Jong Il, whom she considered a father figure, begging him not to find her. Now with her brother dead, she sued to halt publication of her own memoir, The Golden Cage; the book 144 September 2017 Esquire was never released. “I was terrified of being, found and taken back to North Korea, of ‘being taken home ina bag,” she wrote of her defection, according to a copy of the manu- seript obtained by Esquire. “T would have preferred to be killed om the spot rather than. suller a life ia the mines or the countryside.” Ina 1999 interview with South Korean news paper FoongAng Mo, she further emphasized the fear that comes with belonging tothe Kim dynasty: "Being exposed means death to our family? She has not spoken publiely sinee, Defections occurred in Kim Jong Un's branch of the family as well. In 1998, his beloved aunt, Ko Yong Suk, who'd been di patehed to Europe to watch over him while he attended Liebofeld-Steinhilali, « school outside Rern, Switzerland, led with her hus band to the United States, where today they live middle-class lives under new names with U.S. passports. Kim Jong Un was a teen- ager when she left, and some North Koreans suggest he was embittered by her abandon- ‘ment. His heart hardened toward those who fected from the DPRK. BORN TO DIFFERENT inothers a dozen years apart, Kim Jong Nam and Kim Jong Un grew up in separate palaces in Pyongyang. Kim Jong Nam claimed the two never met. Like his older brother, Kim Jong Un enrolled at the Swiss school under a false identity. A school official acknoveledged the enrollment of a North Korean teen he deseribed as “well inte ‘grated, industrious, ambitious," and passion: ate about basketball. Every day, an embassy driver picked him up from school, and fellow students say they thought he was the driver's son, Iewas only when the young man made his international debut as the DPRK’ heir appar- cent, in 2010, chat they realized his quasi royal provenanee ‘At the time, many assumed Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son, was being groomed to suc: ceed his father. But he preferred partying to politicking, Gregatious and social, he began sneaking out to drinkas soon ashe hit puberty, his maternal aunt recalled in her memoir. ‘Kim simply was not suited for life in Pyong ‘yang, “Kim Jong Nam was treated likea prince sn North Korea,” says Lee Sin Uek, a profes sor of political seience at Dong-A University in South Korea, The two became friends when Kim visited Moscow, where Lee was in grad- uate school, in the late 1990s. “But le was bored and wanted to see the outside world” The final steaw came in 2001, Kim Jong ‘Nam, by then a father of three—a son with his wife, and ason and daughter with his mis ‘wess—tried to visit Tokyo Disneyland using, a fake Dominican passport under the name Pang Xiong: “Fat Bear” in Chinese. Kim, by then a portly figure in gold-rimmed glasses, was detained and sent back by Japanese imini- {gration officials. The incident made interna- ‘ional headlines. Kim and his father agreed he should move to Beijing two-hour light from Pyongyang but far enough not to cause the regime further embarrassment. There, Kim's ‘marriage soured, and he later moved with his mistress and their children, Han Sol and Sol Hi, to Macau, WITH ITS CRUMBLING, fading colonial build ings, its easinos and showgirls, Macau isa slice fold Europe in new Asia. On weekends thot sands of tourists take the hour-long ferry from Hong Kong to pack the narrow alleyways, see the cathedral, ine up forthe famous egg tarts, and drink vinho verde under the shade of palm tees in genteel eourtyards of what isthe most densely populated region in the world. ‘And to gamble. Sleepy by day but dea. dent by night, Macau—known as the Monte Carlo of the Orient, and the only place in hina where casinos are allowed—is where Asia's nouveau riche go to indulge their vives. “Living Las Vegas in Asia,” Kim wrote in a 2010 Facebook post, since taken down. Reporters assigned to trail him knew to lie in wait at the Wynn Macau or the Four Sea sons, though he claimed in recent years to bave given up gambling For aman raised in luxury, Kim Jong Nam led a simple life. He traveled by taxi rather than the chauffeured Mercedes-Benzes that today ferry the Kim family azound Pyongyang. He dined at local Korean restaurants, sporad- ically treating friends to meals. He dressed in breezy weekend atti. But Kim was hard to miss, and not because of his gold necklaces, rings, and elaborate tattoos: He moved about with an official entourage of local police who, as he told Yoji Gomi, were providing either protection or surveillance. He was never sare Which, but said he tolerated and appreciated their presence, ‘As a father, he gave Han Sol the ordinary childhood he never bad, Instead of shuttling his son off toa Swiss boarding school under a false identity, leashed to North Korean dip- lomats charged with keeping an eye on him, Kim Jong Nam sent him to a local private school. There, Han Sol built a diverse group offends, tested out new looks (ear piercings, dyed hair), and even explored Christianity. He started a Twitter account, posted photos to Facebook, and ereated a blog on which he listed Bruce Almighty and Katy Perry among his favorite cultural touchstones. ‘The equilibrium Kim Jong Nam had achieved for himself and his family began to sbift when, in August 2008, his father had asstroke, As the leader recuperated out of the public eye, Jang Song Thaek, a Moscow- teducated cade who was married to the Dear Leader's beloved only sister, stepped in as de facto regent. With the future ofthe regime in question, Jang oversaw a campaign to groom his nephew Kim Jong Un toassume power. Even if Kim Jong Nam hadn't expressed interest in polities in years, his half brothersaw him as competition. In 2009, Kim Jong Un sent secret police to raid his vaca tion home and arrest his friends. After that, Kim Jong Nam told Gomi he avoided going bck to North Korea, Lee, the professor at Dong-A University, says, “In a patriarchal society, when the first heir has been ban- ished and the second or third son becomes the heir, the first son’s existence becomes a threst. Considering the Paektu lineage, Kim Jong Nam was a threat.” WHEN KIM JONG-UN, then twenty-seven, assumed power in December 2011, following the death of Kim Jong I rom a heart attack (the same ailment that killed Kits I Sua) he Inherited an altogether more intense series of tensions than either of his predecessors did. ‘The nation was economically troubled, with «per capita GDP estimated at 5 percent of that across the border in South Korea. Most North Koreans did not have reliable electre- ity or running water, muuch less computers or Internet access. Politically, Pyongyang had few friends abroad and was under growing scrutiny fr its abysmal human-rights record. The country was, and stil is, technically at war with the United States. ‘To inspite loyalty, Kim Jong Un modeled himself after his legendary grandfather, in looks and ia manner. He wore the same Mao suits and straw hats Kim Il Sung wore at his age and introduced updated versions of the same economic polices. He revised the wording ofa key national doctrine govern- dng the daly life of North Koreans, known as “Ten Principles for the Establishment ofthe One-Ideology System.” to require allegiance to those in the Mount Packtu Lineage. He embarked on campaign of terror, one that ‘was even more far eaehing than those car~ sed out by his father and grandfather, with an unprecedented spree of purgesand execu- tions, eypealy by Gring squad of those who opposed him or presented a threat, More than 140 party and military officials have been exectited during Kims rule, seared to death with famethrowers or eviscerated by machine-gun fre, while their colleagues are foreed to witness the gruesome, bloody kill- ngs, claims the Institue for Nation sity Strategy ia Scoul a government-funded research center afliated with South Korea's "National Intelligence Service. According to the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, commercial satelite images taken of ‘North Korea in 2014 caught what appeared tobe an execution by firing squad u aircraft machine guns Kim Jong Nam wrote to Gomi in January 2012, just days after his haf brother took over, “Anyone with common sense would find i dificult to tolerate three generations of hereditary succession. I question how a young heie with two years of taining is able to inher absolute power that has lasted for 146 September 2017 Esquire thirty-seven years” Then, a miscalculation, oF pethaps awillal denial: “Kim Jong Un is sim- plya symbolic figure.” Kim's criticism of the newly anointed leader did not sit well with Pyongyang. But he had a protector in Jang, the uncle who'd helped Kim Jong Un rise to power and was considered the second-most-powerful person in North Korea. Jang bad high-ranking post sions in the government, and he commanded a network of relatives and allies working at North Korea's missions and embassies abroad. He and his wife were Kim Jong Nam's ‘main connections to Pyongyang. ‘That ended in December 2013, when Jang dramatically fellout of favor. Pethaps because he'd decided that his uncle had become too powerful, Kim Jong Un ordered Jang tried for treasonanda host of ther charges. Jang’s exe ceution by firing squad was made public, onee agtin highlighting that no one, not even aelose relative, was safe from the leader's wrath, David Straub, a former U.S. diplomat and the LS-Sejong Fellow at the Sejong Insti- ‘ute, a think tank in South Korea, says he was “stunned” by the rashly vengeful way Jang’s {all from grace was handled by North Korea “This happened in such an atmosphere of paranoia and fear and overflowing adrenaline nd testosterone,” Straub says. “It shows that Kim Jong Un and the people around him put on a face of being completely confident but are under great psychological pressure. And that makes them take extreme action.” Kina Jong Nam soon found out that he, 00, was on the regime's hit list. After an alleged, assassination attempt, Kim pleaded with his half brother for a reprieve, the then-director ‘of South Korea's National Intelligence Service told lavemakers two days after Kim's assasi- nation. “Please withdraw the order to punish sme and my family,” he wrote ina letter report- edly intercepted by South Korean intelligence *We have nowhere to gosand nowhere to hide ‘Our only eseape is suicide.” IN LATE APRIL, two months after Kim Jong ‘Nam's death, Ilanded in Pyongyang. Abroad, headlines warned of impending war on the Korean Peninsula. But in North Korea's capital, it was life as usual, The streets wore ealm, Farmers were preparing for the upcoming rice season. To the north, the eye-popping new neighbor: hood of Ryomyong Street, empty and impos- ing, lashed Technieolor like an amusement park on steroids. Just weeks earlier, the ‘Marshal, as Kim Jong Un is known, himself presided over the inauguration of the new residential complex, constructed to reward his nuclear scientists, wanted t ind out what people knew of the assassination. From years of reporting here, 1 knew to be cautious: North Koreans ean be opinionated and snarky, but their openness does not extend to their leader and their coum- y's political system. A strictly enlorced law defines any criticism of the supreme leader as anti-state activity, punishable by hard labor or for treason, execution by fring squad. The first time I traveled here, in 2008, our guide warned me not to destroy any North Korean newspapers. The Kims are featured or men- tioned on every page, and so to crumple one up could be seen as defacing the leader's image. “Just lay the newspaper carefully on top ofthe wastebasket” she advised. ‘That warning came back to me when I heard the news that Otto Warmbier a twren: ty-two-year-old University of Virginia stu dent who was visiting North Korea in late 2015, had been arrested, Footage captured. by hotel surveillance cameras shows him pur portedly tearing down a poster written in Korean, He may not have known that it was sign bearing Kim Jong Il's name, and there- fore sured. For his act of defacement, Warm bier was sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor before being released and returned to the U.S. ina coma, in June of this year. He died a few days laters his doctors said he had. stllered massive brain damage while in the bands ofthe North Koreans. Cautiously, asked my guides, well-edu cated members of North Korea's elite, ifthey hhad heard about the death in Malaysia. They nodded, saying they had read about the death of “acitizen” by heart attack. Did they know who he was? Iasked. Silence. Kim's assassination may have gone unno- ticed elsewhere in the world, too, iit hadn't been for an error on the partof the Malaysian police, who, according to Reuters, informed South Korea's embassy first—not North Korea's—about the death. The news was leaked to South Korean media, and it quickly spread around the world. What ensued was bizarre diplomatic incident. Objecting to an autopsy, North Korean officials told the ‘Malaysian government thatthe man was not, in fact, Kim Jong Nam. They demanded that the body be hancled over. Police refused, and allbut aceused the North Koreans of trying to break into the morgue where it was hed. ‘Malaysian police arrested the twa women spotted on security footage: one from Viet: nam and the other from Indonesia, who independently claimed they'd been prom: ised a hundred dollats to take part in atele- vision-show prank. Shortly after, a North Korean chemist living in Kuala Lumpur was arrested but released due to lack of evidence. Four more suspects had already fled Malay: sia and were safely back in Pyongyang by the time Interpol released a “red notice” the clos: est equivalent to an international warrant, calling for their capture. It was discovered that three others who were wanted for questioning, including a diplomat and an employee of North Korea's ‘agship airline, were holed up at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur. WhenMalaysian police demanded that they be turned over, North Korea responded by bar- ring Malaysians in Pyongyang from leaving the country. In retaliation, North Korean cit- jens were blocked from departing Malaysia, ‘Atthe end of March, deal was reached: The three men wanted for questioning were cleared to depart Kuala Lumpur, leaving only the two ‘women to face trial on murder charges. Ifean- vieted, they fue the death penalty. (On the same day, it was announced that ‘Kimn Jong Nam’s body would be returned to [North Korea in exchange for the departure of nine Malaysians in Pyongyang. The half brother ta the supreme leader would, after Living abroad for moze than a decade, finlly return home. IN THE SIX YEARS he’s been in power, Kim Jong Un has demonstrated untrammeled ambition and ruthlessness that seem moti- vated by self preservation at all costs. Despite crippling sanctions that ensure his peo- ple’s ongoing misery, he continues develop- ing nuclear weapons and long-range missiles ‘unabated. North Korea already bas the tech nology to annihilate Seoul and Tokyo, and experts predict it will soon be able to mount ‘nukes on missiles that can reach Los Angeles inthirty minutes. Solongas its nuclear stock pile exists, preemptive military ation against the county is all but impossible, and Kim Jong Un's rale will ikely continue. But that daest't mean hell ever fel that his power is wholly secure. In May, North Korea issued a long letter that accused the CLA of | plotting to assassinate its leader, claiming as proof that American operatives were paying tens of thousands of dollars in cash to carry fot the deed. (The North Koreans have not released any evidence.) In June, South Korean intelligence told lawmakers that Kim Jong Un ‘was hecoming increasingly paranoid, and had taken wo traveling at night, in decoy cars. Since then, new details have emerged about ‘Kim Jong Nam’ fateful trip. A Japanese news paper published security footage placing Kim ina Malaysian hotel with an American who's suspected of being a U.S. spy. Inthe images, [Kimis wearing the same pale gray blazer and carrying the same black-backpack that he was seen with on the day of his death. The bag was stuffed with $120,000 in cash, all in $100 bills, che paper reported, citing unnamed ‘Malaysian sources. ‘As Kim Jong Un’s paranoia deepens, which family members are in his crosshairs? His aunt has not been seen in publie since her husband Jang’s 2013 execution. The supreme leader's sister has been promoted to a high-ranking propaganda post in the party, but she does not appear poised to over throw her brother. Others in the Kim royal family are ying low: There is litte mention in state media oftheir publicty-shy brother, ff an older half sister. Ibis unclear where a 148 September 2017 Esquire nephew, Kim Jong Nam’s second son, may be. ‘And then there's Kim Han Sol, now twen- ty-twvo, whose video was released just weeks after bis father's death. Though his mother was Kim Jong Nam's mistress, and be never ‘met his grandfather or uncle, he’s a direct descendant of Kim Il Sung, and therefore an inheritor ofthe Mount Packt bloodline, With his hipster haircut, geek-chie glasses, and charisma, Han Solis unlike any Kim fam- ily member we've seen: intelligent, curious, and open-minded. Educated almost exclu sively abroad— including at Sciences Po in France, alma mater of five ofthe last seven French presidents—hespeaks fluent English In the few interviews he's given, Han Sol has championed democracy, peace, and diplo- ‘macy. Inone, witha Finnish television station jn 2019, he praised the Arab Spring, call. ing the uprising that unseated Libyan leader ‘Muammar Qaddafia “revolution.” In perhaps ‘the most surprising moment ofthe conversa tion, he referred to his uncle asa “dictator” Kimn said his dream was to one day “go back and make things better, and make it easier for the people there. Ialso dream of unification.” ‘Kim Han Sol has the birthright to lead and ‘wish for his eountry ta open up in ways that appeal tothe U.S. ndits alles. “This is acos- mopolitan, bright young ki,” says Straub, from the Sejong Institute. “Maybe he is real threat, inthe long term, to the regime. ‘The site for Cheollima Civil Defense, the group that Kim Han Sol credits with sav- ing him, his mother, and his sister, pul lished a declaration explaining that the three vere evacuated with the help of China, the ‘United States, the Netherlands, and a fourth, ‘unnamed country. “This will be the Sst and Jast statement on this particular matter?” it reads, “and the present whereabouts of this family wil mot be addressed” Little is known about the group. Could it be run by North Korean defectors? South Korean intelligence? The country's consti: ton grants nationality to all Koreans born on the peninsula, north or south, and the gov- ernment hasa system for reintegrating—and protecting —high profile defectors. European allies? Lody Embrechts, the Dutch ambassa- dor to South Korea, was thanked on Cheol sma’ssiteshe has remained tight-lipped about his involvement. Or isitan ad hoc group the world will never hear from again’ At press time, its website was no longer live. ‘Where Kim Han Sol isin hiding isa guess- ing game among those who monitor North Korea, Of the dozens of reporters, experts, diplomats, and agemts I spoke with, no one knew—or was willing to share—any infor mation. Is he in the United States, or 2 U.S-allied country, under CIA protection? Oris he in Europe, where he has exiled farm sly and a tighteitele of friends? “The one place everyone was sure he isn't is North Korea.