Kim Jong-un’s secretive older brother who 'had the warm heart of a girl' (2025)

Fresh speculation that Kim Jong-un could be in a coma has renewed the debate over who would take his place if he met an early demise.

The latest claim that the North Korean leader is in a coma has been dismissed, and state media has pictured him chairing a ruling party summit and surveying typhoon damage in recent days.

North Korea has never publicly stated who would follow Kim in the event that he is unable to rule, but Pyongyang watchers have once again tipped his sister, Kim Yo-jong, as his likely successor, although perhaps only temporarily.

There is one long shot, however - the siblings' elusive and only surviving brother, Kim Jong-chul, who plays a support role for his brother, and is probably best known for his love of Eric Clapton and his 2015 visit to London to see the Brit in concert.

Observers say Kim Jong-chul, who is 38 or 39, is not a viable option to take over the country which has been ruled by the Kim dynasty since it was founded after World War II.

Experts recently told the BBC that he has never appeared interested in politics or power, and at most he could be a symbolic link to the Kim family, and possibly be appointed to lead a foundation or read the odd speech.

His father, Kim Jong-il, overlooked him as a potential successor in 2009, and his older half-brother Kim Jong-nam fell out of favour when he was caught travelling on a fake passport (and was later assassinated with a VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia in February 2017.

Kim Jong-il's former personal sushi chef, who used the pseudonym Kenji Fujimoto, wrote a book in 2003, claiming the ruler saw his son Kim Jong-chul as "no good because he is like a little girl", while he considered Kim Jong-un to be a boy of "inner strength", the BBC reported.

The chef wrote that Kim Jong-chul "had the warm heart of a girl", the Washington Post once reported.

Younger brother Kim Jong-un, said to be 36 now, was chosen and groomed to become the reclusive regime's next supreme leader, taking over in December 2011 after his father's death.

Kim Jong-chul - the third of Kim Jong-il's five children - is said to be more interested in music than politics, which has been suggested based on his travels abroad, but it is also claimed he has his brother's respect.

It is said he was educated at an international school in Switzerland, like the current ruler, before returning to Pyongyang, where he studied at a military university and worked in the propaganda department.

His Japanese-Korean mother, Ko Yong-hui, who was born in Osaka, was reported to have been Kim Jong-il's favourite consort.

He is said to be a talented musician and he has flown around the world to watch Eric Clapton in concert - in Germany in 2006, Singapore in February 2011 and at London's Royal Albert Hall in May 2015.

In 2016, South Korea's spies claimed he had been shut out of power and was living under surveillance, the Nikkei Asian Review reported.

Thae Yong-ho, the former deputy ambassador of North Korea to London, was Kim Jong-chul's minder during the May 2015 trip to London.

After defecting to South Korea in 2016, he told Reuters he escorted the Kim brother around London and took him to two gigs for Clapton's 70th birthday celebration tour.

Thae said Kim was a polite young man who didn't reveal much about his life in Pyongyang or his older brother.

The defector, who disappeared from the embassy quarters in Gunnersbury, west London, with his family before resurfacing in Seoul weeks later, added: “He’s very free. But he’s only interested in guitars and music."

Video of Kim Jong-chul at the gig showed him wearing a leather jacket and wearing aviator sunglasses with an unknown woman by his side, believed at the time to have been his girlfriend.

Thae said she was not a girlfriend, but a rhythm guitarist from a North Korean pop group called the Moranbong Band, which was formed by Kim Jong-un after he took power.

Journalist Simeon Paterson, who attended one of the concerts, told the BBC at the time: "He was just like any other fan, but there were officials all around him.

"They were obviously not Clapton fans, and looked really out of place. But he was having a great time, singing along to all the words."

Kim Jong-un’s secretive older brother who 'had the warm heart of a girl' (1)

Video Loading

Video Unavailable

Click to playTap to play

The video will auto-play soon8Cancel

Play now

Thae said Kim Jong-chul is an accomplished guitarist, and days before the concert jammed at guitar shops in Denmark Street in London's west end.

He bought gear to take home to Pyongyang, but the shop owners had no idea who he was.

Thae said: "[One] let him play for 30 minutes. The shopkeepers of those guitar shops were amazed by his talent."

The shopkeepers tried to pry him excitedly with questions like "What is your name?" and "Which band are you in?".

Thae said: “He didn’t say anything. He just smiled”.

Little is known about Kim Jong-chul's current role in Pyongyang. It is said that he plays a support role for his younger brother and has his ear.

Before Kim Jong-un's historic first summit with US President Donald Trump, he reportedly consulted with Kim Jong-chul and sister Kim Yo-Jong, South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reported.

Sources told the newspaper that Kim Jong-chul didn't play a significant role in policymaking, but "the fact that Kim Jong-un holds discussions with him can be interpreted as him showing respect for his elder brother".

North Korea expert Leonid Petrov told News.com.au in 2017 that Kim Jong-chul was known for having a “soft personality".

The North Korea Leadership Watch blog described him as having a "pleasant, outgoing personality".

Mr Petrov added: "There are rumours he (Kim Jong-chul) has feminine traits to his character and took hormones to help him behave more masculine.

“But Chul is also not interested in ruling, he’s apolitical and instead prefers pop music and concerts, and travelling overseas accompanied by North Korean minders.”

Sign up for the Mirror Politics newsletter

From the coronavirus to Brexit, this is an era of great change and uncertainty. Events in Parliament have rarely been so crucial - or confusing.

Our daily politics newsletter is there at 8.30am to guide you through these turbulent times.

Written by the Mirror's Head of Politics Jason Beattie it includes sharply-written commentary, a concise overview of events in Westminster and a sprinkling of gossip. There's then a 4.30pm bullet-point update with the day's headlines.

Don't miss a thing - sign up for the Mirror Politics newsletter by visiting www.mirror.co.uk/email.

In his 2007 book Bipolar Orders: The Two Koreas Since 1989, North Korea expert Hyung Gu Lynn wrote that a 15-year-old Kim Jong-chul penned a poem when he was studying in Switzerland, saying he would prefer a world where people are free and there are no atom bombs, weapons or drugs.

He also wrote that he would make the world speak just one language, Korean, and everyone would have the same amount of money.

The student also described a penchant for Hollywood movies and a desire to meet action hero Jean-Claude van Damme.

It is reported that Kim Yo-Jong was recently given more responsibilities within the ruling Workers' Party as she climbed through the leadership hierarchy.

Believed to be 32, she has had the most consistent presence around her brother in the past two years while serving unofficially as his chief of staff.

There has been speculation that she could be a successor, or could form a regency until one of Kim Jong-un's children is old enough to take over.

The latest round of speculation that Kim Jong-un could be in a coma erupted after Chang Song-min, a former aide to South Korea’s late president Kim Dae-jung, made the claim more than a week ago without providing evidence to back it up.

It was the same one he made months ago only for Kim to be pictured in public days later.

Kim Jong-un’s secretive older brother who 'had the warm heart of a girl' (2025)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Rob Wisoky

Last Updated:

Views: 6358

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (68 voted)

Reviews: 91% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Rob Wisoky

Birthday: 1994-09-30

Address: 5789 Michel Vista, West Domenic, OR 80464-9452

Phone: +97313824072371

Job: Education Orchestrator

Hobby: Lockpicking, Crocheting, Baton twirling, Video gaming, Jogging, Whittling, Model building

Introduction: My name is Rob Wisoky, I am a smiling, helpful, encouraging, zealous, energetic, faithful, fantastic person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.