 AUSTRIAN security forces foiled an attempt to assassinate a son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il during a European trip in November, Yonhap News reported today. The report of the plot against Kim Jong-nam came amid persistent rumours of internal political strife in the reclusive communist state and within the nation's first family itself. Citing a source familiar with North Korean affairs, Yonhap said the failed plot had been planned by North Koreans favouring other of Kim Jong-il's sons as his eventual successor. "Kim ran into an attempt to assassinate him during his visit to Europe in mid-November, but the Austrian intelligence agency had received a tip in advance and protected him," the source was quoted as saying. "The attempt was made by anti-Kim (Jong-nam) groups in North Korea."
| Let them do their killing in their own country, not in the West. |
South Korea's National Intelligence Service could not confirm the report but said Seoul's government was checking it. In November, global financial markets were swept by rumours that Kim Jong-il had been assassinated or overthrown. At the same time, diplomats and officials were reported as saying that some of Kim's portraits had been removed from public places. The North's official KCNA news agency later denied this. Long seen as his 62-year-old father's heir apparent, Kim Jong-nam's star is thought to have waned after he was caught trying to sneak into Japan on a false passport in 2001. Although a thick veil conceals the doings of the North's ruling dynasty, Kim Jong-il - who succeeded his father and state founder Kim Il-sung in 1994 - is believed to have had children with at least three wives. Korea watchers say the older Kim now appears to favour Swiss-educated Kim Jong-chul, who is in his 20s. |