Interpol issues warrant for 4 North Koreans: Malaysia police

Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant for four North Koreans wanted by Malaysian investigators in connection with the assassination of Kim Jong- nam, the country’s police chief said Thursday.

The estranged half- brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong- un was poisoned with the lethal nerve agent VX in a brazen Cold War- style killing on February 13 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Two women – one Vietnamese and one Indonesian – have been arrested and charged with the murder. Airport CCTV footage shows them approaching the victim and apparently smearing his face with a piece of cloth.

Investigators are also seeking seven North Korean suspects, four of whom left Malaysia on the day of the murder. The police chief has said he believes they fled to Pyongyang while the other three are hiding in North Korea’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

“We have ... obtained a red notice for the four North Korean nationals who were at the airport on the day of the incident and who have since left,” police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters.

“We ... are hoping to get them through Interpol.”

The red notice alerts police in Interpol member countries to share any information on the suspects with a view to potentially arresting and extraditing them to face justice. North Korea is not part of that network.

The Interpol notice posted online shows four North Korean men aged between 32 to 56 years old. They are named as Hong Song- hak, Ri Ji- hyon, O Jong- gil and Ri Jae- nam.

Pyongyang has denounced the Malaysian investigation.