Report: NKorean leader's son denies asylum rumors

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MSNBC.com:

SEOUL, South Korea - The eldest son of North Korea's reclusive leader denied rumors that he intends to seek refuge in Europe because his life was threatened in a fierce power struggle, a South Korean newspaper reported Monday.

The son, Kim Jong Nam, dismissed the reports as groundless and said his father was in good health, the mass-circulation JoongAng Ilbo reported. The paper said it tracked down the son at a hotel in the southern Chinese territory of Macau, where he answered a few questions while waiting for an elevator.

Dressed in jeans and blue suede loafers, the paunchy Jong Nam reportedly said, "I have no plans on moving to Europe. Why would I?"

He added, "I could go there for a vacation, but I think you have only heard rumors."

Jong Nam, 39, is one of three known sons of 68-year-old North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. He had long been the favorite to succeed his father but reportedly fell out of favor because of his wayward lifestyle. In 2001, he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake Dominican passport to visit Tokyo's Disney resort.

South Korean intelligence analysts now believe the father is to name his youngest son — Jong Un — as his successor. Unconfirmed media reports have said Jong Un has purged his older brother's supporters in North Korea and plotted to assassinate him.

The newspaper report Monday said Jong Nam claimed to have no knowledge of the March sinking of a South Korean warship blamed on a North Korean torpedo attack.

Jong Nam kept his answers short and ended the interview when asked about rumors about a crackdown last year on his associates who gathered at a Pyongyang safe house, the newspaper said.