As speculation mounts that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has selected third son Kim Jong Un to succeed him, information obtained Wednesday suggested a purge has begun of people close to Kim Jong Nam, the dictator's first son and former heir apparent to the hermit regime.
According to information obtained by Kansai University professor Lee Young Hwa through Japanese intelligence sources, the political purge has so far targeted former schoolmates and close aides of Kim Jong Nam, 38.
Lee also quoted the sources as saying that an espionage organization in the labor party was recently disbanded, and that members of the group were close to Kim Jong Nam, who is best known in Japan for getting caught at Narita airport trying to slip into the country on a false passport in 2001, claiming he and his family were on their way to visit Tokyo Disneyland.