Kim Jong Un won't 'last long,' half brother says

msnbc.com staff and news service reports

PYONGYANG, North Korea — Kim Jong Il's eldest son has predicted that North Korea's regime will "not last long" under the rule of his half brother, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of late North
Korean leader Kim Jong Il

Citing e-mails exchanged between Kim Jong Nam and a Japanese journalist, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper said that the dictator's son described the country's dynastic succession as "a joke to the outside world."
Kim Jong Nam also predicted that his half brother Kim Jong Un would be "just a nominal figure," adding: "The members of the power elite will be the ones in actual power."
Kim Jong Un was vaulted into the leadership role with the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in December. He had made his public debut as anointed successor only 15 months earlier.
His half brother suggested that North Korea's new leader, who is believed to be aged 27, faced many challenges.
"Without reforms, North Korea will collapse, and when such changes take place, the regime will collapse," the newspaper quoted Kim Jong Nam as saying. "The Kim Jong Un regime will not last long." More >>