| | Kim Jong-nam has been living in the Chinese territory of Macau
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A power struggle to succeed Kim Jong-il as leader of North Korea's Stalinist dictatorship may be looming after his eldest son was reported to have returned from semi-voluntary exile. Kim Jong-nam has been living for at least three years in the Chinese territory of Macau Having once been predicted to follow his father as the country's supreme leader, he was said to have fallen out of favour after being caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport in 2001. He said he was trying to take his own son to Tokyo Disneyland. But yesterday, one of South Korea's leading newspapers quoted intelligence sources as saying that he had returned to North Korea for good and had taken a job inside the powerful "organisation department" of the ruling Workers' Party. A second source claimed that there were "plans" outlined for him, including using his experience abroad to help foster relations with South Korea and the United States. While Jong-nam, 36, was out of the country, attention turned to his younger half-brothers, Jong-chol and Jong-on, who are both in their mid-20s. But attitudes may have changed due to their youth and to a series of health problems suffered by their father. Few reliable sources exist outside the secretive world of North Korean politics on what a power struggle might mean. Some analysts say that in any case, power lies in the hands of the conservative generals on whom any titular leader must rely to keep himself in power. |