Reporting from Seoul — The photograph was considered a journalistic coup, a recent image of the illusive 26-year-old son of North Korean strongman Kim Jong Il, who has reportedly been named the next leader of the secretive state.
The Internet snapshot released by a Tokyo television station purportedly showed an adult Kim Jong Un -- whose last known photo was taken at age 12 -- as a spitting image of his notorious father, right down to the moon face, coiffed hair and oversize sunglasses.
Trouble was, it wasn't the younger Kim at all, but a pudgy 40-year-old South Korean construction worker who also operates a website for fortunetellers. He says he is baffled as to how the Japanese got hold of his Internet image.
"I'm speechless," Bae Seok-bum told South Korea's Yonhap news service. "I only uploaded the picture to share with the members of my community how similar my face was to that of Kim Jong Il. I didn't think it would go this far."
The photo has quickly become an Internet sensation across Japan, South Korea and even China, dispersed via e-mail by amateur North Korea watchers.
Kim Jong Un is the youngest and favorite of three sons born to Kim Jong Il, who reportedly intensified his search for a successor after suffering a stroke last year. The youngest Kim was born to his father's third wife, the late Ko Yong Hi, a former dancer.
He reportedly likes to ski and play basketball and is an ardent fan of former NBA star Michael Jordan. He used a pseudonym to attend a boarding school in Switzerland. Since his return to North Korea as a teenager, he has not been photographed publicly, according to press reports.
South Korean media say Kim favors his youngest son because he is most like him in both looks and personality.
Earlier this month, South Korean legislators said they had received classified information that Kim Jong Il had officially named Kim Jong Un as his successor.
Little is known about the young man. But a report by Cheong Seong-chang, director of the Inter-Korean Relations Studies Program at the Sejong Institute near Seoul, says he already suffers from high blood pressure and diabetes and that he speaks English.
Now Bae has been mistakenly linked to the infamous ruling family. He's being hounded by the media, and in a brief interview with The Times said he's disturbed by all the attention.
"I don't even take lots of calls from reporters," he said.
