Kim Jong-Il of North Korea has named his successor. Having had a series of strokes, the 'Dear Leader' ain't long for this world.
He has decided his best shot at extending the totalitarian Kim rule into a third generation lies in the youngest of his sons. The hope is, presumably, that Kim Jong-Un, 26, will perpetuate the personality cult style created by his grandfather, Kim Il-Sung, the 'Great Leader' who wrenched North Korea away from the world into a paranoid, martial state where the population would thrive, if only armaments were edible. North Korea may be a small raddled country, but it is a hornet on the world stage and, while Kim Jong-Il might share a wardrobe with Roy Orbison and hairstylist with Phil Spector, he's in charge of the fifth largest standing army on the planet and an itch for the nuclear.
In a world where primogeniture rules, it is the norm for the eldest son to inherit over his brothers. There are few examples of this being reversed, though Saddam Hussein is a case in point. Prior to his overthrow, he was actively grooming his son
Qusay over the older Uday. Uday, his longtime favourite [right] committed a string of murders and rapes with impunity. He blew it however, when he bludgeoned Saddam’s best-loved 
food-taster to death in front of appalled guests at an official banquet for Suzanne Mubarak, wife of the Egyptian president. It was one death too far and the younger Qusay, though only marginally less violent, was thereafter considered the more stable pair of hands. Thankfully for the Iraqi people, this particular sociopathic dynasty ended when both brothers died in a shootout during the Iraqi invasion.In choosing his youngest, the ailing 68-year old dictator is sidelining Kim Jong-Nam who, like Uday, was heir presumptive. While North Korea is a sealed country from which few verifiable details of its ruling family seep,
it is known that a third son is considered too ‘girlish’
and that the chubsome Kim Jong-Nam caused his father huge diplomatic embarrassment when he was detained in Tokyo while traveling on a forged Dominican Republic passport.He is now thought to be exiled in Macau, so it is not totally unexpected that his father has passed him over. Rumours have been swirling for some time and people guessed a shift when Kim Jong-Un's mother, though dead, got bestowed the rambling title: "The Respected Mother Who Is The Most Faithful and Loyal 'Subject' to The Dear Leader Comrade Supreme Commander"
Only Kim Jong-Un, [above, as a boy] with his love of movies and booze, fierce temper and stubborn character, is a considered a delightful ‘chip off the old block’.This dynastic decision may have far-reaching consequences. Often, an understandably powerful, destructive energy surrounds
spurned sons from powerful families, this can either be turned inward, but far more dangerously, projected outward....The story of Kim Jong-Nam, now 38, [left] is that he was born to Song Hie-Rim, who was an early mistress of Kim Jong-Il’s before he was
forced into a political marriage with the daughter of a high-ranking military official. This union was not a success and they soon separated, but nor was the relationship with Song Hie-Rim a happy one. Despite being mother to his heir, she was denied official recognition and after years of estrangement, died in Russia. 
Kim Jong-Il’s next mistress was far more successful and did receive official recognition. She became known as First Lady until her death in 2004 and is the mother of the new heir, Kim Jong-Un.
Kim Jong-Nam is the rejected child of the rejected mistress; Kim Jong-Un the favoured child of the favoured mistress –
It is this disparity in treatment that could herald big trouble.
Consider the background stories in similar vein of two other famous men, both also rejected children of rejected women.
The
The
first one is about Sabri Khalil al-Banna.
Born in 1937, he was the son of Hajj Khalil al-Banna, a Jaffa-based fruit merchant who owned thousands of acres of orange groves making him one of Palestine’s richest men.
The al-Bannas lived in a palatial home with stables filled with Arab horses, they owned one of the country’s first swimming pools and moved between holiday homes in Syria, France and other parts of Palestine. Al-Banna fathered sixteen sons and eight daughters from several wives, and included Sabri, who was born to a sixteen year-old girl from the Alawite sect; one of the fa
mily’s maids. This marriage was disapproved of and the young Sabri [left] was scorned by his older brothers and sisters. In 1945, at the age of seven, his father died. His mother, to whom he was very close, was immediately thrown out of the house. Sabri Khalil stayed on in the questionable care of his disdainful siblings until they had to flee an invasion and ended up penniless refugees. As an adult he took up arms, 
founded
Born in 1937, he was the son of Hajj Khalil al-Banna, a Jaffa-based fruit merchant who owned thousands of acres of orange groves making him one of Palestine’s richest men.
The al-Bannas lived in a palatial home with stables filled with Arab horses, they owned one of the country’s first swimming pools and moved between holiday homes in Syria, France and other parts of Palestine. Al-Banna fathered sixteen sons and eight daughters from several wives, and included Sabri, who was born to a sixteen year-old girl from the Alawite sect; one of the family’s maids. This marriage was disapproved of and the young Sabri [left] was scorned by his older brothers and sisters. In 1945, at the age of seven, his father died. His mother, to whom he was very close, was immediately thrown out of the house. Sabri Khalil stayed on in the questionable care of his disdainful siblings until they had to flee an invasion and ended up penniless refugees. As an adult he took up arms, 
founded Fatah and changed his name to Abu Nidal. He went on to oversee attacks in twenty countries that resulted in nearly a thousand deaths and injuries. Until he was killed in 2002, Abu Nidal, was considered one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists. In his obituary he was described as having ‘warped personal drives that pushed him into hideous crime.’
The next story has striking parallels with the Abu Nidal. This is about a child born in Riyadh. His father Muhammed was a
phenomenally successful businessman with close ties to the Saudi royal family. Muhammed had up to fifty-four children by maintaining three long-term wives and reserving the fourth slot for a series of "short-termers" whom he married and divorced in rapid rotation.
His tenth wife, [the sixth to pass through the position of the fourth wife] was an Alawite called Hamida. Even before her only son was born, the other wives had ostracized her. They referred to her as "the slave," in reference to her inferior status. Shortly after the birth Muhammed divorced her and the baby became known by the nickname, "son of the slave." He was rejected by his half-siblings and the label never left him.
The next story has striking parallels with the Abu Nidal. This is about a child born in Riyadh. His father Muhammed was a
phenomenally successful businessman with close ties to the Saudi royal family. Muhammed had up to fifty-four children by maintaining three long-term wives and reserving the fourth slot for a series of "short-termers" whom he married and divorced in rapid rotation.His tenth wife, [the sixth to pass through the position of the fourth wife] was an Alawite called Hamida. Even before her only son was born, the other wives had ostracized her. They referred to her as "the slave," in reference to her inferior status. Shortly after the birth Muhammed divorced her and the baby became known by the nickname, "son of the slave." He was rejected by his half-siblings and the label never left him.
A shy boy, he felt abandoned when his father died in a helicopter crash when he was only ten.
When he reached adulthood, Osama bin Laden went medieval on the Western World’s ass.
Beyond family dynamics, political and religious factors did much to shape the world view of these
Beyond family dynamics, political and religious factors did much to shape the world view of these
men, but maybe it is in their early experiences where the wellspring of fury formed and through which everything was subsequently filtered. Seeing as two of the most determined and brutal mass murderers in the past fifty years have both been the rejected children of rejected women - and these men were not inline for the family business let alone a whole country - we must hope that Kim Jong-Nam is happy stuffing his face in Macau and does not have a vengeful nature, for there may after all be some truth in that age-old nursery rhyme:
Monday’s Child; Rather OddTuesday’s Child; Bit Of A Sod
Wednesday’s Child May Run Amok
Thursday’s Child Wont Give A Fuck
Friday’s Child Loves Drugs & Drink
Saturday’s Child Will Never Think
But The Child That Is Born On The Sabbath Day
Will Become A Homicidal Maniac On A Global Scale
If the worst does happen and Kim Jong-Nam somehow pulls a nuclear tantrum, we must draw upon the wise words of Kurt Vonnegut, who wrote,
Saturday’s Child Will Never Think
But The Child That Is Born On The Sabbath Day
Will Become A Homicidal Maniac On A Global Scale
If the worst does happen and Kim Jong-Nam somehow pulls a nuclear tantrum, we must draw upon the wise words of Kurt Vonnegut, who wrote,
'There is no reason why good cannot triumph over evil. The triumph of anything is a matter of organisation. If there are such things as angels, I hope they are organised along the lines of the Mafia.'
