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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Who Pays for Kim Jong-nam's Pleasure Trips? |
| 2010-03-16 |
| First guess, China, as a hedge in case they need a puppet in North Korea someday. Second guess, Kimmie, in case plans with #3 son fall through. Third guess, Uncle Sugar, just because we're dumb that way. Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, is apparently living with his wife and son in Macau in a luxury villa he bought 10 years ago. There are separate homes in downtown Macau for his bodyguards. He frequents the five-star Mandarin Oriental Hotel and is often seen in the hotel's casino, restaurant, bar and sauna. A night in a suite there costs US$460 a night. In 2001, Kim Jong-nam was deported from Japan when he was caught trying to enter on a fake passport, apparently to visit Tokyo Disney Land. At the time, Kim was wearing a Rolex watch, Aigner belt and A. Testoni shoes, and the two women accompanying him carried pure gold Chanel accessories and Louis Vuitton bags. Few North Koreans will know these brand names, and each of these items cost anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. In 1998, Kim Jong-nam sneaked into Japan and had a few drinks at a notoriously expensive bar in Tokyo's Akasaka district, according to the account of a barmaid. Kim Jong-il's second son Jong-chul, meanwhile, reportedly followed Eric Clapton on tour through Germany, attending four concerts in different cities. South Korean employers pay North Korean employees in the Kaesong Industrial Complex $59 a month. North Korean authorities take 30 percent of that salary and the workers take home $41 worth of goods (not in cash). And in actual foreign exchange rate terms, the average North Korean worker makes about $1 a month. An ordinary North Korean worker must slog 460 months to cover Kim Jong-nam's Macau hotel stay for one night, and a Kaesong worker 11 months. It's difficult to calculate how many North Korean workers must toil and sweat to finance Kim's gambling, drinking and shopping. How many workers must toil to support Kim Jong-chul's tour through Europe to hear Eric Clapton? Using the six-party nuclear talks as a pawn, North Korea is demanding access to $24 million of its assets frozen in a Macau bank account. This is part of a slush fund North Korean officials are managing and is used as spending money for the communist country's ruling elite, including Kim Jong-nam. Pro-North Korean officials in South Korea are trying to turn a blind eye to this eyesore while spending tens of billions of won (US$1=W937) operating 15 truth-finding commissions to rake up the past. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 The Chicoms could shut Kimmie down, but they find him useful in making trouble for the civilized world. Kimmie is a symptom of a bigger |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2010-03-16 21:49 |
| #3 I'm sure Kim Jong-Nam is a key player in North Korea's arms export business, and rakes in a tidy sum from playing these games. I also believe that some of what he's doing is finger-in-the-eye behavior against Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the US. He may also be a foil to divert attention from someone engaging in far more nefarious activities. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2010-03-16 18:51 |
| #2 not toomention all the money he made stealing the AID (food) and selling it |
| Posted by: chris 2010-03-16 18:16 |
| #1 He stashed away a rainy day fund while he was still the favored son. What's so hard to understand about that? |
| Posted by: gromky 2010-03-16 02:58 |