Whereabout of Kim Jong-un's elder brother still unknown

Kim Jong-chul, elder brother of North korean leader Kim Jong-un, attended an Eric Clapton concert at the Royal Albert Hall in west London, Wednesday. / Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

Whereabout of Kim Jong-chul, elder brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, is still unknown after he attended an Eric Clapton concert held in London for two days from Wednesday (local time).

The elder Kim was scheduled to leave England on Friday and fly to Beijing via Moscow. But he did not show up at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport, and his name was not on a passenger list for any flights bounding for Beijing.

“He might have delayed or used other flights that do not go through Moscow, after being exposed to media,” Yonhap News Agency quoted a source as saying.

Video, released by a Japanese television network, shows Kim arriving at the Royal Albert Hall in west London. His minders push reporters and cameras away from him.

“He was just like any other fan, but there were officials all around him,” said a BBC journalist who was at the scene.

“They were obviously not Clapton fans, and looked really out of place. But he was having a great time, singing along to all the words.”

This is not the first time Kim was seen in Clapton concerts. He was caught on camera in Germany and Singapore in 2006 and 2011, respectively, while attending the concerts.

He is known to have passion and devotion to rock legends. In 2008, Kim tried to arrange an Eric Clapton concert in Pyongyang, but failed.

Kim Jong-chul, 33, is the middle son of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. His older brother is Kim Jong-nam.