Got $90 to take part in a prank, claims suspect

The Indonesian woman who is one of the suspects in the killing of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un’s half brother said she was paid $90 for what she believed was a prank, an Indonesian official said on Saturday.

Siti Aisyah also told authorities she did not want her parents to see her in custody, Andriano Erwin, Indonesia’s deputy ambassador to Malaysia, said one day after Malaysia revealed that VX nerve agent was used in the bizarre killing at Kuala Lumpur’s airport.

“She doesn’t want her family get sad to see her condition,” Erwin said after a 30-minute meeting with Aisyah. “She only delivered a message through us to her father and mother not to be worried and take care of their health.”

The public poisoning of Kim Jong Nam, which took place on February 13 amid crowds of travellers at the airport, appeared to be a well-planned hit. Kim was dead within hours of the attack, in which two women went up behind him and appeared to smear something onto his face.

Aisyah, 25, has said previously that she was duped into the attack, but Malaysian police say she and the other female suspect, a Vietnamese woman who also is in custody, knew what they were doing.

The revelation that VX nerve agent, the deadliest in the world - killed Kim has boosted speculation that North Korea had dispatched a hit squad to Malaysia to kill Kim, whose younger half brother is Kim Jong Un.

Malaysia has not directly accused the North Korean government of being behind the attack, but the killing has unleashed a serious diplomatic fight between the two countries and has geopolitical implications.

On Saturday, Malaysia said it would issue an arrest warrant for a North Korean diplomat, 44-year-old Hyon Kwang Song, a second secretary at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, if he doesn’t voluntarily cooperate with the police.

Eight North Koreans are wanted in connection with the case, including the diplomat. One has been detained by the Malaysian police, four are believed to have fled to North Korea, while two are still in Malaysia.

MALAYSIA SAYS IT WILL ISSUE AN ARREST WARRANT FOR A NORTH KOREAN DIPLOMAT IF HE DOES NOT COOPERATE WITH THE POLICE