The assassination last week of Kim Jong Nam, the older half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, puts a human face on the wrongdoings of the Pyongyang government. The Kim regime has flagrantly and wantonly disregarded international rules, but those acts have been, in recent years at least, abstract and distant from the lives of most people. Even residents of Seoul, who live within range of North Korean artillery, go about their daily business without much concern for the potential effect of the threats from the North. Kim Jong Nam's murder is a reminder that the North Korean government at its essence is — literally — a murderous regime and must be treated as such.
Kim Jong Nam's mother was reported to have been one of Kim Jong Il's favorite mistresses, but because Kim Il Sung, Jong Il's father and North Korea's founding leader, disapproved, Jong Nam was kept out of the public eye for years. Later he was reputed to be the heir apparent to Jong Il until 2001, when he was detained by Japanese immigration officials as he tried to enter the country under a false passport; he reportedly wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland. That incident embarrassed the Pyongyang leadership and Jong Nam went into exile, living first in Beijing and then in Macau.
Since then, he became an increasingly — albeit reluctant — public figure, accosted by journalists in airports and periodically offering views on developments in his homeland. While his interpretation of goings-on in Pyongyang was informed by his upbringing and connections, Jong Nam had limited actual time in North Korea. His thoughts about North Korea became increasingly critical. He denounced '"dynastic succession" even before his father died, and when his half brother took over, he questioned his ability to stay in power, warning that the country would collapse without reform and that Jong Un would be a puppet of the ruling elite. He was not unconcerned about the consequences of such statements, however, and with good reason. A North Korean spy admitted he had been sent to attack Jong Nam. He reportedly wrote his half brother asking him to spare him and his family from retribution.