North Korea Disproves Reports On Detainment Of Kim Jong-il's Son In Japan

The North Korean embassy in Moscow has disproved Japan's Kyodo Tsushin reports that allegedly the son of North Korean leader Kin Jong-il has been detained in Narita Tokyo international airport for an attempt to enter the country illegally. "It is a pure provocation," says the embassy. According to the Kyodo news agency, a man resembling the North Korean leader's son, arrived in Tokyo on board the Japanese JAL plane from Singapore on May 1 and was detained for having a false passport issued to a Dominican Republic citizen. The man suspected of being Kim Jong-il's eldest son Kim Jong-nam, who is now being interrogated at the Narita police department, denies his being the son of the North Korean leader. He wonders where this version could come from. The Japanese mass media portray Kim Jong-nam as his father's future political successor and call him a Small General, saying he often visits Japan to build up his knowledge in the Japanese language and computer technology. He is also known to have recently studied at the universities in Geneva and Moscow.