Tyrant’s nephew spurned place at Oxford over fear of assassination
THE nephew of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un turned down a place at Oxford University amid fears he could be murdered by the tyrant’s globe-trotting assassins, it has been revealed.
Kim Han-sol was living in fear of his uncle’s hit squads even before the murder of his father Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia this week.
Yesterday a horrifying picture was published of Kim Jong-nam moments from death in an airport chair after he was poisoned by female assassins on Monday.
Pictures of three suspected North Korean agents – said to have watched the killing from an airport restaurant – were also released, supporting the theory that tyrant Kim Jongun ordered the execution of his half-brother.
Mr Han-sol was to move to England after reportedly being offered an Oxford University place, starting in September. His girlfriend is a student there.
But the offer coincided with warnings from Chinese security officials that the North Korean leader was plotting to kill the 21year-old and his father to wipe out the family’s bloodline. Han-sol, who studied politics in Paris for three years, is seen as a potential stand-in leader should the North Korean regime collapse.
Yesterday he was under armed guard with his mother Ri Hye Kyong and sister Sol Hui, 18, in an apartment block in the Chinese gambling resort of Macau. He has had extra protection from Chinese security agents for months, with other residents saying armed police had been patrolling the complex for at least three months before Monday’s assassination.
Han-sol and his father were advised not to travel outside Macau and China, where North Korea would be reluctant to send a hit squad for political reasons, security sources said.
Casino-loving womaniser Kim Jong-nam shrugged off the warnings, travelling to Malaysia where he is rumoured to have had a mistress, before being poisoned in Kuala Lumpur Airport. Han-sol has remained in Macau.
‘North Korea depends heavily on Chinese aid and Kim Jong-un wouldn’t dare kill his nephew on Chinese soil,’ said a Beijing source. ‘In Britain, however, Han-sol would be at far greater risk. It looks as if turning down the university place may have kept him alive for now.’
Han-sol’s girlfriend, who goes by the name Sonia and refers to Han-sol as ‘hubby’, is already is studying at Oxford.
Since taking power in 2011, Kim Jong-un has been paranoid that his regime might be overthrown and his halfbrother or nephew installed in his place. He executed his uncle Jang Sung-taek in 2013 after accusing him of plotting with China to overthrow the regime.
Two southeast Asian women, believed to have been duped into poisoning Kim Jong-nam with spray, have been arrested. A suspected North Korean agent is also in custody, while a fourth person was arrested yesterday.
UNCONSCIOUS ON AN AIRPORT CHAIR – LAST PICTURE OF HIS FATHER AFTER POISON ATTACK