Mercury, secrets, and some mother’s boy
The best reads of the week
This week’s top pick tells the behind-the-scenes story of the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, a man formerly destined to rule North Korea, but who was instead killed with deadly chemical weapons in the international airport of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Earlier in his life, Jong-nam often had bodyguards watching his back, but his fall from privilege had been abrupt. He had grown up the firstborn son, with a direct path to ruling North Korea, in a mansion staffed by 100 servants and 500 guards. But after his father, Kim Jong-il, acquired a new mistress who bore two more sons, Jong-nam was dispatched to a posh private school in Geneva. Still, his ascension seemed likely.
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