It wasn't military secrets, computer technology or industrial data that drew a man believed to be the son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il to Japan this week.
It was Mickey Mouse.
PHOTO: AFP
The man, who reportedly claimed to be the communist leader's first-born, was deported to China yesterday after being accused of entering Japan with a fake passport -- on an apparent mission to visit Tokyo Disneyland.
The All Nippon Airways flight arrived in Beijing later yesterday, and the man, with two women and a boy accompanying him, were driven in a van to the terminal. They entered through the VIP doorway.
The Japanese government refused to confirm many details about the case, only saying that the foursome arrived in Japan on Tuesday from Singapore on forged Dominican documents.
Since then, the group had been kept at a detention center north of Tokyo for questioning, said Justice Ministry official Tadao Oe, who refused to confirm their identity or motive for coming to Japan.
But media including national broadcaster NHK and major newspapers all quoted unidentified government sources as saying the man claimed he was Kim Jong-nam, a possible heir to the reclusive North Korean leader.
"We had plans to go to Tokyo Disneyland," Kyodo News agency quoted the man as telling immigration officials. He reportedly added that he had already visited the park when he was a teenager.
If reports of the man's identity were correct, the incident provided the outside world with a rare glimpse of the shadowy figure believed by some to be next in line to take over one of the world's most mysterious regimes.
The man fit the image of the privileged son of a dictator. TV footage showed a portly, bespectacled man sauntering leisurely on the tarmac from a van to the jet he was deported on, glancing arrogantly at the security people around him.
The Tokyo Shimbun quoted unidentified officials as saying he sported a diamond-encrusted Rolex watch, spent about ?10,000 (US$80) on lunch and had "many" US$100 bills in his luggage. The women with him, the report said, carried pricey Louis Vuitton bags.
Japanese police also have long suspected the North Koreans of counterfeiting US$100 bills and using Japan and other neighboring countries to smuggle illegal drugs in a desperate effort to stave off economic collapse.
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