by REERA YOO | @reeraboo
editor@charactermedia.com
Kim Jong-un’s older brother was recently spotted attending an Eric Clapton concert at Royal Albert Hall in London, reports Yonhap News Agency.
Kim Jong-chol, 33, is known to be a devoted Clapton fan, as he has previously been seen at the musician’s concerts in Germany in 2006 and Singapore in 2011, according to BBC.
On Wednesday, Japanese television network TBS filmed Kim, dressed in dark sunglasses and a leather jacket, exiting a van outside the venue in west London. TBS journalists reported that Kim was flanked by an entourage of suited men and a woman with cropped hair, who appeared to be Kim’s girlfriend.
South Korean diplomats in London confirmed that Kim attended Clapton’s concert on both Wednesday and Thursday nights, according to the Guardian. The diplomats also said the North Korean embassy in London arranged Kim’s transport to and from Royal Albert Hall.
Yonhap reported that Kim stayed at the Chelsea Harbour Hotel in west London, where rooms can cost up to 2,184 pounds (approximately $3383 USD) per night. He is scheduled to board a flight to Moscow on Friday.
This is the first sighting of Kim since his younger brother, Kim Jong-un, assumed power in late 2011.
Kim Jong-chol is the second of three sons of North Korea’s late leader, Kim Jong-il. He and Kim Jong-un were born to the late leader’s third wife, while the eldest son, Kim Jong-nam, was born to the second wife.
Like the current leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-chol was educated in Switzerland. At one point, he was considered for the North Korean leadership, but was overlooked by his father in 2009, according to BBC. Kim Jong-il had reportedly decided that his second son was too much like a “little girl” to be a leader.
Meanwhile, Kim Jong-nam fell out of his father’s favor after he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport in 2001, supposedly to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
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Featured image via Chosun Ilbo
