Kim Jong-un’s brother demanded diplomat keep HMV open late during Clapton concert visit, defector recalls

The older brother of Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, demanded that Pyongyang’s embassy in London use its influence to keep the HMV store in Oxford Street open late at night so he could go shopping during a visit to Britain in May 1915, according to the diplomat who defected in 2016. 

Kim Jong-chul flew into Heathrow to attend two concerts by Eric Clapton at the Royal Albert Hall, according to the recently released memoirs of Thae Yong-ho, the deputy ambassador to London until his defection to South Korea, and became angry when he was told the HMV store would be closed by the time they arrived in the city around midnight. 

“You can knock on the door or make a phone call”, Mr Kim told Mr Thae as they drove into London in an embassy car. “That would be possible at the request of a diplomat. Don’t you have the ability to make it happen?”

Informed that it would not be possible, Mr Kim complained the entire journey into central London.

Mr Thae’s book - “The Secret Code of the 3rd Floor Room” and named after the office in the headquarters of the Workers’ Party of Korea charged with maintaining the Kim dynasty in power - devotes an entire chapter to Mr Kim’s visit to London, during which he was tasked with acting as his chaperone.

The London embassy had received a classified diplomatic cable from Pyongyang two months previously requesting that Mr Thae purchase “the best seat” at the Eric Clapton concert, with a delegation travelling to London in April to make sure that preparations were satisfactory. 

Mr Kim was in London for 61 hours, saw two Clapton concerts, buying merchandise that included T-shirts, mugs and keyrings. He subsequently went shopping at both Selfridges, where he bought clothes for his children, and HMV - during regular opening hours.

Mr Kim also purchased an American guitar that he had been trying to find, paying £2,400 pounds for the instrument and sitting in the store for around 40 minutes. Onlookers apparently applauded his impromptu performance, Mr Thae wrote in the book, according to The Korea Times. 

During his visit, Mr Kim reportedly enjoyed drinking and smoking - habits he shares with his dictator brother - and visiting McDonald's for burgers. 

Mr Kim’s presence at the Eric Clapton concert was widely reported at the time, although he has  not been seen abroad or in North Korea since. There are reports that he enjoys a lavish lifestyle of luxury imported cars and exclusive restaurants in Pyongyang with other members of the North’s elite. 

There are no suggestions his brother sees him as a threat to his dynastic rule of North Korea. Kim Jong-un is widely believed to have ordered the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, his older half-brother, in Kuala Lumpur last year out of concern that he was being groomed by China as a future leader of North Korea.