More on Kim Jong Chol

Ask and ye shall receive. A photo of the heir apparent is here, although it’s hardly recent. Other photos apparently exist, and I’d appreciate links. More info here. All I have to offer in exchange is this delectable bit of gossip:

Attention naturally turned to the elder of the two brothers, Kim Jong-chol, and Newsweek magazine published a dated and blurred black and white photograph of him during his school days in Switzerland. More recently, though, the emphasis has been on the younger brother, Kim Jong-un (also spelled Kim Jong-woon). The main proponent of this theory is Kim Jong-il’s former Japanese sushi chef, Kenji Fujimoto (a pseudonym), who, in his memoir, published in Japan, stated that Kim regards Jong-chol as too effeminate, and Jong-un to be more like his father.

Does it seem quite right that a spartan, martial, patriarchial state would allow itself to be led by a guy who might be, umm, gay? Not that there’s anything wrong with that . . . unless you live in North Korea, that is.

Update 10/0/05: Correction: Nope, that’s out-of-favor Kim Jong Nam. There is no known photograph of Kim Jong Chol since age 13, and I’m still hunting for it.