The family of the murdered half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is currently staying in Macau and Bejing, China, under the protection of the Chinese government, the head of South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence committee revealed Wednesday.

“Family members of (Kim Jong-nam) are in Macau and Beijing and are protected by the Chinese government,” Rep. Lee Cheol-woo, chairman of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee said after being debriefed by the National Intelligence Service. “He is thought to have been heading to Macau from Malaysia to see his family,”

Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of late former leader Kim Jong-il, was killed by two unidentified women Monday at an airport in Kuala Lumpur. The two women, believed to be North Korean agents, fled the scene by taxi. Reports from Japan said the two may be dead.

According to Rep. Lee, Kim Jong-nam has three children -- two sons and one daughter -- from his two marriages. His first wife and son are staying in Beijing, while the second wife and the siblings are in Macau.

Among them the most-widely known is Kim Han-sol in Macau, who in an interview with Finnish television in 2012 called his uncle -- Kim Jong-un -- a dictator.

“When I was in North Korea, I was brought up in my mother’s household. I did not know my grandfather (Kim Jong-il) was a dictator. I have never met my grandfather or my uncle (Kim Jong-un) either,” he said on the show.


By Jo He-rim (herim@heraldcorp.com)