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<title>Re: [KS] Official biography of Kim Jong-un</title>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I agree with Rudiger. In 2001-02, when I
was opening the British Embassy, my Korean staff asked me if I knew whether the
Leader (Kim Jong Ill) was married and had any children. Since they worked in an
embassy, these were people who were part of the elite, even if not very high up
the tree, and if they did not know, one can assume that people lower down did
not know either. That said, the question arose because they had heard a rumour –
there were many rumours around the diplomatic community – that one of the
leader’s sons had been arrested at Tokyo airport. At that time, some embassies
had televisions that they allowed their Korean staff to watch so the story may
have come that way. Now in some embassies, Korean staff have access to the
internet and I have heard that they quickly begin checking on the background of
the leaders but this only began after my time.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>In October last year, officials referred
to Kim Jong Un but made no mention of his foreign schooling. I seem to remember
references to his knowledge of a number of European languages but cannot now
trace the reference. Frankly, if you weigh two years of Swiss schooling against
the DPRK system of controls on those who come back from overseas, including diplomats’
children who may get up to four years of education, I would be surprised if the
overseas experience remained a major factor in their view of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Jim Hoare<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
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koreanstudies-bounces@koreaweb.ws [mailto:koreanstudies-bounces@koreaweb.ws] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Ruediger Frank<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> 17 April 2012 11:04<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> Korean Studies Discussion List<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [KS] Official
biography of Kim Jong-un</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><font size=3 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Matty and all,<br>
having just returned from NK and having talked to a few people there, I can say
that it does not seem that the personal background of Kim3 has yet been made
public. It is known that he is Kim2's son, and there are speculations that his
name was formed of his father's (Jong) and his mother's (łn) name. That's all.
There was no knowledge of Kim Jong Nam or his escapades.<br>
Of course this must be taken with a grain of salt; naive to expect anybody
there would tell a foreigner the truth on such a delicate matter. But based on
experience, I'd say in this paticular case my contacts did not lie.<br>
Cheers,<br>
Rudiger<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
on Dienstag, 17. April 2012 at 03:05 you wrote:</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Hello list members:<br>
<br>
A student recently asked if we have any indication about what people in North
Korea know of Kim Jong-un's biography. In particular, do they know that he
studied abroad and if so, what feelings might they have about this?<br>
<br>
1) Is there an online resource with an official biography of KJO?<br>
2) Any educated guesses about how North Koreans would view his <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>yuhak</span></i> experience if they do know?<br>
<br>
Thank you in advance,<br>
Matty Wegehaupt<br>
<br>
Lawrence University<br>
Appleton, WI, USA</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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