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Kim Jong-chul (left) seen in London. Photo: TBS

Kim Jong-un's brother, Kim Jong-chul, seen at Eric Clapton concerts in London

Kim Jong-chul, the little-seen older brother of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has surfaced in London, according to a series of reports, attending concerts by Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall.

North Korea
GDN

Kim Jong-chul, the little-seen older brother of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has surfaced in London, according to a series of reports, attending concerts by Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall.

A man identified as the older Kim, 33, was filmed by Japanese TV crews at the guitarist's concert on Thursday evening.

Broadcaster TBS filmed Kim, wearing dark sunglasses and clad in a leather jacket, getting out of a people carrier outside the central London venue, flanked by suited men who appeared to be North Korean officials. More TBS footage shows him applauding in the crowd, and then leaving the venue via a corridor. "How was the concert?" asked the TBS reporter, in response to which one of Kim's entourage places a hand over the camera lens.

The NK News website cited an anonymous source who also filmed Kim's exit as confirming the man was Kim Jong-un's brother. According to this source, the older Kim saw Clapton play on both Wednesday and Thursday, sitting near the stage.

"He wasn't so distinctive," NK News quoted the source as saying. "But the obviously older guy next to him was clearly neither a typical Clapton fan or dressed for a gig."

According to NK News, Japanese and South Korean media learned of Kim's appearance at the Wednesday concert and so arrived in force the next day.

Kim Jong-chul is the middle of the three sons of North Korea's late leader, Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011. The eldest of the trio, Kim Jong-nam, 44, who has a different mother to the other siblings, was seen as most likely to succeed as leader before an incident in 2001 when he tried to enter Japan on a false passport, supposedly to visit Disneyland.

While Kim Jong-chul has held some mid-level official positions, he has kept a generally low profile under the rule of his younger brother.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Kim Jong-un's brother seen at Eric Clapton concerts
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