KJI Grandson Almost Grown

Kim Han Sol in an image taken from his Facebook page (Photo: Yonhap)

Kim Jong Nam, eldest son of Kim Jong Il

“Yeah ‘n’ I’m doin’ alright in school”–Chuck Berry

A Bosnian newspaper reported that an individual named Kim Han Sol (Kim Han-so’l) has enrolled at the local campus of the United World College (UWC) in Mostar, an hour’s drive southwest of Sarajevo. Kim Han Sol is Kim Jong Il’s first grandchild and oldest son of Kim Jong Nam (Kim Cho’ng-nam) from his marriage to Sin Jong Hui (Sin Cho’ng-hu’i). Kim will be the first DPRK national to enroll at UWC’s Bosnian campus since its 2006 opening. Like other foreign secondary institutions attended by Kim Family offspring, UWC offers an International Baccalaureate Diploma curriculum. According to ROK media, he had been studying in Macau, one of the Chinese cities to which his father regularly commutes for business and where he maintains a residence.

News of Kim’s enrollment sent enterprising ROK journalists to Kim Han Sol’s Facebook page where they discovered several candid photographs, as well as online interactions between his father (using the handle “Kim Chol”) and him. The account settings on his Facebook page, as well as other social media he was using were switched to private and their contents rendered inaccessible since the story on his schooling emerged.