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NK Leader`s Daughter Attended School in Swiss Capital`
A daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il attended a public elementary school in Bern, Switzerland, near the public middle school that Kim's youngest son and heir apparent Jong Un went to, a leading Japanese daily said yesterday. Citing diplomatic sources familiar with North Korean intelligence, the Mainichi Shimbun said, "Records on the daughter's attendance remain at the elementary school," adding, "Brother and sister seem to have studied in Bern while living there together." Mainichi reported the daughter's name as "Ye Jong," but said South Korean sources know her as "Yeong Sun." Kenji Fujimoto, who was once the North Korean leader's personal chef, identified her as "Yeo Jong." Nothing is known about the daughter except that her mother was Kim's third wife Ko Young Hee, who also bore her elder brother Jong Un, 26, and that the daughter was born in 1987. Academic records at the Bern elementary school said the daughter registered for classes under the name "Jong Sun" and using the birth date Jan. 1, 1988. The North Korean Embassy in Bern performed the necessary procedures for her entrance. She first attended a German-language class for foreigners in April 1996 before starting the third grade in August 1997. Mainichi said the elementary school has her academic records up to the fifth grade, but that the document section when she left remains blank. Diplomatic sources said she left the school in late 2000 while in sixth grade. A teacher at the school told Mainichi at that time, "She was known to be a North Korean diplomat's daughter. Several women took turns in escorting her and she seemed overly protected." On the Mainichi report that Kim Jong Un attended the public school Liebefeld-Steinhölzli in Bern, the school told a recent news conference that it cannot confirm whether he was Kim Jong Il's son." A high-ranking official at the school said, "A student with North Korean nationality did attend our school from August 1998 to fall 2000. Since the student was registered as the son of a diplomat at the North Korean Embassy, we cannot determine if he was Kim Jong Il's son." School principal Peter Burri, who was a math teacher back then, said, "That student quickly adapted to school life and was hardworking and full of aspiration," adding, "He loved basketball." In addition, Kim Jong Il's second son Jong Chol, 28, also reportedly studied at the International School in Berne from 1994 to 1996. Posted by: Omock Jerert4398 2009-06-17 |
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