Kim Jong-chol, brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has gone missing after attending a pair of Eric Clapton concerts in London last week.
Jong-chol, 34, attended Clapton’s concerts at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the BBC. The middle son of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Jong-chol is reportedly a big fan of the British blues rocker and has been photographed attending concerts in several different countries over the past few years, including in Germany in 2006 and Singapore in 2011. Jong-chol had not been seen in public since his father’s death in 2011.
In video captured by the BBC, Jong-chol can be seen arriving at the Thursday concert wearing a leather jacket and sunglasses and surrounded by aides.
According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, Jong-chol and his entourage stayed at the Chelsea Harbour Hotel in West London, where rooms can cost up to $3,290 per night.
However, according to a South Korean news report, Jong-chol went missing over the weekend after attending the concerts. He had reportedly been scheduled to depart Moscow and arrive in Beijing on Saturday on his way back to Pyonyang, but his name was not listed on the flight registry from Moscow to Beijing, and he has not been seen since.
Jong-chol and his younger brother Kim Jong-un were born to Kim Jong-il’s third wife Ko Yong-hi, who died in 2004. According to the BBC, Jong-chol was passed over for North Korea’s leadership position because his father thought he was too effeminate.
The eldest brother, Jim Jong-nam, was first in line to succeed his late father after his death, but fell out of the line of succession when he was caught trying to enter Japan with a fake passport in 2001 on a trip to visit Tokyo Disneyland.