But he also knew he was living on borrowed time. He knew that his half-brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has a reputation for ruthlessness, was out to get him. Jong Nam told his close friends he expected his half-brother to arrange for his execution someday.
And when Jong Nam mysteriously died at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) on Monday night, where he was preparing to board a flight to Macau, alarm bells rang.
Even before Malaysian police could get to the bottom of his death, the world media was crying murder with reports even suggesting that North Korea had unleashed its feared women assassins on Jong Nam.
A woman with a Vietnamese passport was arrested on Wednesday at klia2, while earlier today, a second woman was nabbed by Malaysian police with more arrests expected to follow.
Reports indicated that Jong Nam was “attacked” by two Asian-looking women who sprayed him with a chemical while he was at the airport’s main departure lobby. Jong Nam died within minutes.
North Korean government officials in Malaysia objected to an autopsy being performed, but Malaysia rejected the request.
A source, who had known Jong Nam for a decade, told SCMP, “He knew his life was at risk… and he was aware his brother was after him.”
According to the source, though Jong Nam’s fears had deepened after the execution of his uncle Jang Song-thaek in 2013.
In a separate article, The Star, quoting a restaurant owner in Kuala Lumpur who knew him, reported today that Jong Nam used to enjoy coming to Malaysia but always had bodyguards with him as he feared for his life.
Jong Nam was once seen as a potential heir to Kim Jong Il, but an attempt to enter Japan illegally to visit Disneyland in May 2001 ended any such prospect, according to one line of thinking.
But other Korea-watchers say Jong Nam, who was educated in Switzerland and Russia, was never a real threat or a strong rival to Jong Un, who ended up taking power. Nonetheless, Pyongyang found it humiliating that he was detained for holding a false Dominican Republic passport in Japan.
SCMP reported that Jong Nam had raised a son and a daughter in Macau. The son, in his early 20s, the daughter and the mother of the children are all believed to be in the former Portuguese enclave.
Lately, Jong Nam travelled mostly between Macau, the mainland – where he had relatives – and Paris, where he liked to practise the language and enjoy the cuisine, his Macau friend told SCMP.
According to the friend, Jong Nam rarely shared his views on North Korean politics.
“He didn’t talk much about his brother or the regime, although sometimes he would crack jokes about it. He was mostly reserved in that regard.”
Kuala Lumpur restaurant owner Alex Hwang, a South Korean whose restaurant Jong Nam frequented, told The Star that Jong Nam feared being assassinated, which was why he always travelled with bodyguards.
Hwang said Jong Nam would stay at five-star hotels whenever he was in town.
“Sometimes, he would bring his wife here,” he said, adding that Jong Nam had also brought his Singaporean girlfriend to Malaysia.
Hwang believed that Jong Nam was here this time because he had some business or associates in Malaysia who could help him financially.
“He used to get financial aid from the North Korean embassy but not after his father died and he went into exile. He may have other financial sources here.”
Another source said Jong Nam regularly visited between 2010 and 2013 when his cousin, Jang Yong-chol, was North Korea’s ambassador to Malaysia.
However, he stopped coming to Malaysia for a while after Yong-chol was recalled to Pyongyang in December 2013 and executed. Yong-chol was the nephew of Jang Song-thaek, Jong Nam’s uncle.
Song-thaek and his entire family were executed on Jong Un’s orders.
The source said Jong Nam did not return to Malaysia for about a year but was sighted again in 2015 and 2016.
The source also said Jong Nam was involved in the IT business, distributing hardware and software to businesses in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
“He was aware that there would be attempts on his life and had on few occasions travelled to Kuala Lumpur with a bodyguard,” the source told The Star.