North Korean Defector Describes Escorting Kim Jong-un’s Brother in London

Former North Korean diplomat Thae Yong-ho who defected to South Korea in 2016 describes in his book what it was like escorting Kim Jong-un’s brother, Kim Jong-chul around London to attend an Eric Clapton concert:

Jong-chul stayed in London for 61 hours, during which he saw Clapton’s concert twice. He also went shopping at an HMV record store and Selfridges department store, both in London, and drove 100 kilometers to buy a “Made in U.S.” guitar he had been eagerly looking for. He paid 2,400 pounds for it.

His plan to see the concert could have been canceled when his visit was leaked to the media. A throng of reporters gathered at the concert venue to catch a glimpse of the “unfortunate prince,” an often-used term to explain his fate of yielding the North’s throne to his younger brother.

But he pushed ahead and ended up seeing the concert under British police protection. He bought many souvenirs after the concert ― cups, key chains, T-shirts and albums.

Jong-chul looked quite moved when he bought the American guitar, according to Thae. He cuddled it for a while and gave an impromptu performance for 40 minutes at the shop. People extolled his play. The guitar was at his side all the way back to London.

“I’ve sent a cable to many embassies to find this guitar, but they failed. Why couldn’t they be able to find this?” he asked himself.

Thae said Jong-chul was married and had children. He bought children’s clothes at Selfridges.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link, but Kim Jong-chul has been described as being effeminate in the past, but Thae said he saw no evidence of that his time with him in London. Judging from the above picture Jong-chul does not have the same authoritarian appearance Jong-un.  Plus the behavior described by Thae makes Jong-chul appear a bit childish.  This tends to further validate why he was passed over for the North Korean leadership.