http://www.smh.com.au/news/0105/04/world/world7.html
Son of Kim held as spy in Tokyo
A 1981 photo of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il with his son, Jong-nam.
Inset: a copy of a passport photo of a man authorities believed could be Kim
Jong-nam. Photo: AFP
Michael Millett, Herald Correspondent in Tokyo
The eldest son of North Korea's leader, Mr Kim Jong-il, and the man tipped
to eventually replace him as leader, has been arrested in Tokyo on an
apparent spying mission.
Immigration authorities detained Kim Jong-nam, 29, after he arrived on a
flight from Singapore with what they said were forged travel documents.
"I am Kim Jong-nam," Kyodo news agency quoted the man as telling police
investigators.
He was accompanied by two women, one aged 33 and the other 30, as well as a
four-year-old boy. They are believed to be members of his family.
They arrived in Tokyo on a Japan Airlines flight on Tuesday night. All four
were carrying passports from the Dominican Republic.
Immigration officials said their documents were forged and arrested the
group.
Kim Jong-nam had claimed he was visiting for sightseeing purposes before he
admitted his identity.
The Prime Minister, Mr Junichiro Koizumi, convened urgent talks with his
Foreign Affairs Minister, Ms Makiko Tanaka, to decide the Government
response.
Justice Ministry sources said Kim had apparently visited Japan twice before
on false passports.
They said he had provided a false name, Pang Xiang. However, the birthdate
in the forged passport - May 10, 1971 - was the same as Kim, and he closely
resembled the son of the North Korean leader, they said.
The younger Kim is believed to have been appointed by his father to oversee
the development of North Korea's nascent computer industry. Pyongyang is
known to be a keen buyer of Japanese technology. Satellite navigation
equipment, easily bought in retail outlets in Tokyo, was discovered on board
a captured North Korean submarine several years ago.
Kim Jong-nam was born in 1971 to Kim's second partner, Song Hye-rin, once a
famous North Korean actress.
Little more is known about him other than that he studied in Switzerland and
Moscow and is regarded as the most likely successor to his father, who has
ruled North Korea with an iron grip since his father, Kim Il-sung, died in
1994.
The incident will do little to repair the strained relationship between
Pyongyang and Washington, which this week confirmed it would keep the
Stalinist state on its list of countries sponsoring terrorism.
Pyongyang desperately wants a de-listing to open its access to international
bodies such as the World Bank.
While his relationship with the US is deteriorating, Kim appears determined
to keep his doors open to other governments, telling a European Union
delegation yesterday that he would maintain a freeze on missile tests until
2003.
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