He has an intellectually wholesome, cosmopolitan life at the school, it seems. He’s living in the dormitory. “My roommate is from Libya,” he said, “which was quite an experience, like, in the last year. When the revolution happened he was, like, enthusiastic about it and was telling me many stories about… how he went home and saw a different Libya.” Oh no. Kim might not be saying that if he knew that his late grandfather Kim Jong-il was so freaked out by the Arab Spring that he wouldn’t let North Korean nationals living in Libya return nome… for fear that they had absorbed revolutionary ideas.

Other interview highlights include a melancholic regret that he never met his grandfather before his death. “I was actually waiting for him, until he passed away, hoping he would come find me because I didn’t know if he knew that I existed.”

He also revealed that he did not know of his exalted lineage at first. His mother was an ordinary citizen and was not married to Kim Jong-nam. Recalls Han-sol, “I spent some time at my mom’s place… it was an ordinary house that most of the citizens had. I really didn’t get to know until later that my grandfather was a leader in North Korea. Little by little, through conversations that my parents had, I put the puzzle pieces together and I realized who he was.”

When Rehn solicited a comment about how Han-sol’s dad was passed over to succeed Kim Jong-il, he said, “My dad was definitely not interested in politics.” Regarding current leader Kim Jong-un, the boy said, “I don’t know how he became a dictator.” (Maybe he’s just annoyed with the whole family regime because he was forced to take down his Facebook page last year).

Han-sol (an appropriate name, given that his near-namesake Han Solo is a mercenary who becomes a good guy)  may well be the first member of his family to have close personal South Korean friends, the bulk of whom he met growing up in Macau. “I dream of unification,” he said, “Because my friends would say it would be great to just take a bus to South Korea or North Korea and meet each other at some point. That’s one of the dreams.”

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