Kuala Lumpur – The man killed at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport earlier in the week was indeed Kim Jong Nam, the North Korean leader’s older half brother, Malaysian officials confirmed Thursday.
Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi told reporters the North Korean embassy had verified for the first time that Kim Jong Nam, whose travel documents read “Kim Chol,” an apparent alias, was the person killed on Monday.
Kim Jong Nam’s body would be returned to North Korea at Pyongyang’s request after completion of the post-mortem, the deputy premier said.
Earlier on Thursday, police detained a 25-year-old woman holding an Indonesian passport with the name Siti Aishah. She was the second person arrested linked to the killing, police said in a statement.
She had been identified in CCTV footage at the airport where Kim died and was alone when she was arrested, the statement said.
File picture – The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, KIM JONG-NAM, has been killed in an attack in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur. Picture Macau, January 30, 2007. (Credit Image: © Yomiuri Shimbun//TNS/ZUMAPRESS.com)
Another suspect was arrested on Wednesday carrying Vietnamese travel documents bearing the name Doan Thi Huong. She was picked up at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the scene of Monday’s poisoning.
Malaysian police have been granted a remand order to detain both suspects for seven days pending investigations, Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported.
Police expect to make several more arrests in connection with the death, the news agency said.
On Wednesday, Malaysian police official Fadzil Ahmat told local newspaper The Star that Kim Jong Nam, 45, was poisoned about an hour before he was due to board a Monday morning flight to Macau.
“He told the receptionist at the departure hall that someone had grabbed his face from behind and splashed some liquid on him,” Fadzil said.
“He asked for help and was immediately sent to the airport’s clinic. At this point, he was experiencing headache and was on the verge of passing out.”
He then had a seizure and died while being transported to a nearby hospital, Fadzil said.
South Korean media have long talked about a feud between Kim Jong Un and Kim Jong Nam and have speculated that the North Korean leader possibly wanted to get rid of his rival, who said he never sought power for himself.
Should Pyongyang be found responsible for the murder, it would mark the most high-profile death related to the Kim Jong Un regime since the December 2013 execution of Jang Song Thaek, the once-powerful uncle of North Korea’s leader.
The eldest of former dictator Kim Jong Il’s three sons, Kim Jong Nam had mainly spent time in China and South-East Asia in recent years, according to reports.
South Korean news agency Yonhap said Wednesday that Kim Jong Nam was “protected” by Beijing, and suggested that his death could strain relations between North Korea and China, the insular country’s only powerful ally.
–dpa
