Kim Jong-il's grandson to study at French university
The teenage grandson of North Korea's former leader Kim Jong-il and nephew of Kim Jong-un will study at France's Sciences-Po university, an official said on Tuesday.
Kim Han-sol, the teenage grandson of North Korea's former leader Kim Jong-il (inset) Photo: Reuters/AFP/Getty Images
By AFP
1:16PM BST 27 Aug 2013
Kim Han-sol, 18, who studied in Macau and Bosnia, is due to start at Sciences-Po's campus in the northern city of Le Havre in this year's Europe-Asia undergraduate programme, university official Caroline Allain said.
The English-taught course addresses the relationship between Europe and Asia. Students have to learn French and pick one Asian language – Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hindi or Indonesian.
The teenager's father Kim Jong-nam is the eldest son of Kim Jong-il, who took power in 1994 and like Kim Il-sung – the founder of the ruling family – led the hermetic state until his death in late 2011.
His family has lived in virtual exile mainly in the Chinese territory of Macau ever since his father fell out of favour with Kim Jong-il following a botched bid to enter Japan in 2001 with a fake passport and visit Disneyland.
The teenager has studied at the United World College in Mostar in Bosnia. He avoided the media but in a rare interview to Elisabeth Rehn, a former UN undersecretary general, branded his uncle Kim Jong-un a "dictator".
