Kim Jong-chul

Kim Jong-chul (born September 25, 1981) is the middle son of Kim Jong-il, the former leader of North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea). His older half-brother is Kim Jong-nam. His younger brother is Kim Jong-un, now the leader of North Korea.

In 2007, Jong-chul was appointed deputy chief of a leadership division of the Workers' Party. However, on January 15, 2009, the South Korean News Agency reported that Kim Jong-il appointed his youngest son, Jong-un, to be his successor, passing over Jong-nam and Jong-chul.

These reports were supported in April 2009 when Kim Jong-un assumed a low-level position within the ruling Workers' Party of Korea as Kim Jong-il was groomed by his own father, Kim Il-sung, in a similar way before becoming North Korean leader in 1994.

Read more about Kim Jong-chul:  DPRK Leadership, Personal Information, Ancestry