Kim Jong-Un and purported twin (AFP)
Multiple news sources are reporting that ailing Korean dictator, Kim Jong Il, has selected his third son, Kim Jong-Un, as his heir. Very little is known about Jong-Un, who is about 26 years old, apart from that he was educated at a boarding school in Switzerland. The year and date of his birth are unconfirmed. The only picture available of the younger Kim shows him as an 11 year school child.
BBC is now reporting that Jong-Un may have a twin sibling, also educated in the West. The Washington Post has linked the young heir to a dark, grainy black and white photo of an androgynous adult presumed to be a member of Kim Jong Il’s immediate family. The picture is said to have been taken at a 25th birthday celebration on Korean Arbor Day in 2008. If the individual in the picture is Jong-Un’s twin sister, or Jong-Un himself, that would place his date of birth on April 5, 1983, making him 26 years old.
Intelligence sources believe that the uncertainty stems from a disinformation program designed by North Korea to sew confusion as to the inner workings of their government. North Korea may believe that, if the U.S. is uncertain as to the status of Kim’s government, it may be less likely to react aggressively to North Korea’s recent nuclear tests.
Update: Newly released, undated family photo of Kim Jong-Il and his progeny fails to provide fresh evidence for or against the Jong-Un twin theory.
Filed under: Satire | Tagged: North Korea
