A source in Macau said Kim junior is not an alcoholic but tends to drink heavily recently when he does -- to the tune of 10 boilermakers at a time. The source said Kim never used to drink boilermakers but seems to have undergone a change. He never talks about politics, ideology, and North and South Korean affairs, but when he has had a few drinks, Kim will lament that people close to him were purged from the Central Committee Bureau 39 of the Korean Workers' Party, which North Korean defectors say was set up in the 1970s to create a personal slush fund for Kim Jong-il.

A picture of Kim Jong-nam in Macau, China published in Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper on Wedesday.

Kim junior has been living in an exclusive villa village in Coloane Island, 15 minutes from central Macau by car, with his wife Chang Kil-sun and 12-year-old son. The neighborhood is a luxury enclave with about 80 expensive villas. Overlooking the South China Sea and boasting breathtaking views, the villas are equipped with outdoor swimming pools and satellite dishes and valued at more than W1.8 billion (US$1=W937). The Kim family uses two villas covering more than 330 sq.m. The ground floor is taken up by a garage.

The source, who is acquainted with the younger Kim, told the Chosun Ilbo on condition of anonymity that Kim’s beautiful wife is a former member of Kippeumjo, the exclusive female entertainment troupe for the North Korean leadership. Kim’s son attends an international school. A guard who gave his name as Leung said the curtains at Kim’s villas are drawn all day long and his family never talks to the neighbors.

The exclusive villa of Kim Jong-nam and his family in Coloane Island in Macau. A sunflower, which symbolizes loyalty to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, is seen in a window.

There was no response when the Chosun Ilbo rang the doorbell several times. Locals acquainted with Kim said he was with friends in Macau on the day. He also owns an apartment in central Macau, mainly for his three private bodyguards, though Kim sometimes uses it himself after spending the night in nightclubs, casinos and bars.

People close to him claim he leads a “simple life.” The owner of a Korean restaurant there said that the passenger car is mainly used by his family while Kim takes a taxi or bus. Wearing blue jeans or shorts, he frequently stops by Korean or Japanese restaurants for a glass of soju or sake. He is known to spend the night in the island’s entertainment district with its big luxury hotels like the Lisboa, Mandarin Oriental and Golden Dragon. A source who declined to be identified said Kim shops for luxury and designer products at hotels or drinks in hotel nightclubs or bars. He sometimes gambles in the casinos but appears only mildly interested and plays for stakes of only a few thousand Hong Kong dollars. An acquaintance quoted him as saying that Macau was his new home since he is less exposed there than in mainland China.

(englishnews@chosun.com )