Japanese authorities today deported to China a man who identified himself as the son of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Il, after the man was caught trying to enter the country on a passport from the Dominican Republic.

[The man, whom officials have refused to identify, was taken in a police van with a patrol car escort to Narita International Airport, just outside Tokyo, from a nearby immigration office. He had been detained since Tuesday.

Under heavy security, he was put on an All Nippon Airways flight to Beijing. The plane took off at 10:54 a.m.]

The man, who said he was Kim Jong Nam, the 29-year-old eldest son and heir apparent to the North Korean leader, arrived in Japan on Tuesday aboard a Japan Airlines flight from Singapore. He was traveling under the name Pang Xiong and was accompanied by three people who are believed to be relatives -- two women ages 33 and 30, and a 4-year-old boy whom the man reportedly wanted to take to Tokyo Disneyland.