Kuala Lumpur – North Korea “cannot trust the investigation” by Malaysian police into the death last week of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half-brother, Pyongyang’s ambassador to Malaysia said Monday.
“The investigation by the Malaysian police is not for the clarification of the cause of the death and search of the suspect, but it is out of the political aim,” Ambassador Kang Chol told reporters outside the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
The envoy said he thinks there is evidence that “South Korea [was] involved in this incident,” adding that he believed “Malaysia was in collusion with South Korea from the first step.”
He also demanded to meet with the two female suspects arrested last week in connection with the killing.
North Korean Ambassador to Malaysia, Kang Chol, addresses the media outside his embassy on Monday. Kang was summoned to the Malaysian Foreign Ministry Monday in connection with last week’s death of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. (Chris Jung via ZUMA Wire Photo: Chris Jung/dpa)
Earlier Monday, Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassador, saying he had insinuated that Kuala Lumpur had “something to conceal” following the February 13 killing of Kim Jong Nam.
The ministry also said it had recalled its ambassador to Pyongyang.
Kim Jong Nam died after two women apparently sprayed a poisonous substance into his face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Four people have been arrested in connection with his killing.
Kang strongly criticized Malaysia’s handling of the incident and said that Pyongyang would “categorically reject” the results of any post-mortem conducted without its permission.
He also complained that North Korea’s request to claim the body had been rejected.
Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry said the criticism was “baseless” and that the post-mortem was carried out in accordance with Malaysian law, as it was classified as a sudden death.
Pyongyang had been told the body would be handed to next of kin when the investigation was complete, the ministry said.
On Sunday, a South Korean Defence Ministry spokesman accused Pyongyang of responsibility for the death of the 45-year-old Kim, the eldest of former dictator Kim Jong Il’s three sons.
An Indonesian woman, a Vietnamese woman, a Malaysian man and a North Korean man were arrested in relations to the attack. At the weekend, police said another four North Korean suspects had fled the country.
Three of the North Korean suspects arrived in Indonesia after the death before flying on to Dubai and Bangkok, the Indonesian immigration office reported Monday.
Ri Jae-nam, Hong Song-hac and Ri Ji-hyon flew from Jakarta to Dubai on Emirates on February 13. A fourth suspect, O Jong-gil, transited through the Indonesian capital on his way to Bangkok on January 19, a month before the incident, immigration spokesman Agung Sampurno said.
The two women arrested have reportedly said they thought they were taking part in a television prank.
Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV on Monday published grainy closed circuit television footage on YouTube of what it said was the attack being carried out.
The clip shows a man, supposedly Kim, entering the airport and looking at the departures board. Later, it shows two women approaching him.
One of them, wearing a white top, appears to reach over his head from behind. The women then quickly move away.
The footage shows the man approaching an airport worker for help, apparently using hand gestures to indicate that someone had wiped his face with liquid.
The airport worker then brings the man to three policemen, and he is seen making the same gestures. One of them takes him to the airport clinic.
-dpa
