Well-known playboy and occasional critic of his father's regime, Kim Jong-nam has been kicked out of luxury hotel in the Chinese gambling hub of Macau, according to a Russian newspaper. The Arguments and Facts weekly claimed Jong-nam ran up a bill of £9,500 but was unable to pay because his credit card had been cancelled.Jong-nam's decadent lifestyle saw him ditched as the heir-apparent in favour of his younger half-brother
"He gave us his Visa Gold card but it ended up having no money on the account," the mass-circulated paper quoted an unnamed source at the hotel as saying. The management of the five-star Grand Lapa Hotel, run by the Mandarin Oriental chain, then expelled the 40-year-old from his 17th-floor room, the paper said.
| I'm just a little surprised that the Norks didn't send an assassination team, but then this is Chinese soil so perhaps they didn't want to offend their leash-holder... |
| Bloody the carpet of a five star hotel chain? Not wise. Wait until he's moved into something considerably downmarket, like under a bridge. It won't be long -- his life experience does not point to a talent for practical decisions. |
| They won't be dealing with this when they do get there... |
Jong-nam's cash flow problems follow a recent interview he gave to a Japanese newspaper in which he claimed his father, who died in December last year, was against passing on his power to a third generation.
"[Heredity succession] does not fit socialism and my father was against it," he told the Tokyo Shimbun last month.
Speculation is now rife that Pyongyang's politburo severed the state funds awarded to the country's infamous prodigal son, who is a frequent visitor to the southern Chinese special administrative region of Macau and well known in the small territory's numerous casinos and plush restaurants.
Jong-nam was being groomed to succeed Kim Jong-il - but he deeply disappointed and embarrassed his father in 2001 when he was caught trying to visit Japan's Disneyland on a false passport.
Can ya blame him? Tokyo Disneyland really is a Magic Kingdom(tm)!
The same official said Jong-nam's luxury apartment that he rented for his wife was paid for by the Chinese secret service while his spending money came primarily from North Korea.
| If we had a CIA worth anything at all, we'd put him up in a suite in Vegas for at least as long as it took us to squeeze him dry of everything he knows. I'd even let him see a Wayne Newton floor show if it would help... |