Full Name Ri Il-nam Name Yi Han-yong Hangul 이한영N. 리한영 Parents Song Hye-rang | Hanja 李韓永 Hangul 리일남S. 이일남 | |
Revised Romanization Yi Han-yeongN. Ri Han-yeong McCune–Reischauer Yi Han-yongN. Ri Han-yong Similar People Song Hye‑rim, Kim Jong‑nam, Lee Eun‑ju, Kim Chunsu | ||
Yi Han-yong, birth name Ri Il-nam (died 26 February 1997), was a North Korean defector.
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Early life
Ri's mother Song Hye-rang's younger sister Song Hye-rim was a mistress of Kim Jong-il; Ri's mother raised Kim Jong-il's and Hye-rim's son Kim Jong-nam alongside Ri and Ri's sister Nam-ok at a secluded villa outside of Pyongyang in order to keep Jong-nam's parentage a secret from Kim Il-sung. He went abroad to Moscow for university, and then defected to South Korea in 1982 while studying at a language school in Switzerland.
Life in South Korea
After defecting, he initially attempted to keep his identity a secret, changing his name and even going as far as undergoing plastic surgery. His life in the South was troubled. He first studied drama at Hanyang University, and married in 1989; however, in 1991, a construction company he started went bankrupt, and he was jailed for 10 months on charges of embezzlement. In 1996, due to his ongoing financial difficulties, Yi made his identity as Kim Jong-il's nephew known publicly, selling the story of his aunt Song Hye-rim's exile in Moscow to South Korean newspapers, and then publishing a book about his experiences entitled Taedong River Royal Family.
Death by shooting
Yi was shot on 15 February 1997 near his home in Bundang, Gyeonggi-do by two assailants who were never caught; they were suspected of being members of the Korean People's Army's Special Forces based on analysis of the bullets taken from Yi's body, which were fired from a Belgian-made Browning pistol. He was taken to hospital and kept on life-support, but succumbed to his wounds on 26 February.
South Korean prime minister Lee Soo-sung initially stated that the attack was an act of retaliation for the defection of Hwang Jang-yop, who at the time was living in the South Korean embassy in Beijing. The publication of Yi's tell-all book and the defection of his mother in Switzerland the previous year may have served as additional factors in making him a target of the regime in the North. Others speculated at the time that his murder was not politically motivated, but was instead related to his gambling debts or a dispute with a lover.