NK diplomat wanted over Kim killing

Malaysian police chief says female suspects knew it was poison attack

Detectives probing the assassination of Kim Jong- un’s half- brother want to question a North Korean diplomat, Malaysia’s top policeman said Wednesday.

Investigators have put five North Koreans in the frame for last week’s killing of Kim Jongnam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and have said they are seeking three more for questioning.

They include the embassy’s second secretary, Hyon Kwang Song, as well as a North Korean airline employee called Kim Uk- il, Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters.

“We have written to the ambassador to allow us to inter- view both of them. We hope that the Korean embassy will cooperate with us and allow us to interview them quickly. If not, we will compel them to come to us,” he said.

Kim Jong- nam died on February 13 after being attacked as he waited for a plane to Macau.

Leaked CCTV footage from the airport shows the chubby 45- year- old being approached by two women, one of whom grabs him from behind and appears to shove a cloth in his face.

Moments later Kim Jongnam is seen seeking help from airport staff, who direct him to a clinic, where he apparently slumped in a chair.

Malaysian police say he suffered a seizure and died before he reached hospital, seemingly from the effects of a toxin.

Asked whether the five North Korean suspects had masterminded the attack, Khalid said he believed they were “heavily involved” in the murder.

Four of the men fled the country on the day of the killing and returned to Pyongyang, he said, while one remains in custody in Malaysia.

The police chief dismissed claims the two women had believed the attack was a madefor- TV prank.

“Of course they knew” it was a poison attack, Khalid said. “I think you have seen the video, right? The lady was moving away with her hands toward the bathroom. She was very aware that it was toxic and that she needed to wash her hands.”

Khalid said Vietnamese suspect Doan Thi Huong, 28, and Indonesian Siti Aishah, 25, had been trained to swab the man’s face, practicing in Kuala Lumpur before the assault at the airport.

Aishah wiped a toxic substance in his face first, followed by Huong, the Malaysian police chief said. Khalid said investigators had been “very fair” and the North Korean embassy now had a duty to assist them.

Pyongyang and Kuala Lum- pur have locked horns over the investigation, with North Korea’s envoy on Wednesday calling for Malaysia to release the two women and North Korean citizen from police custody.

“They should immediately release the innocent females from Vietnam and Indonesia as well as a North Korean citizen,” Ambassador Kang Chol said in a statement which repeated allegations South Korea had influenced the probe.

The women must have been framed as they would have died if carrying the poison in their hands, the ambassador claimed.