Two women to be charged with Kim’s killing

KUALA LUMPUR: Two women arrested for the nerve agent assassination of Kim Jong Nam are to be charged with his murder, Malaysia said on Tuesday.

The spectacular killing of Kim Jong Un’s half-brother with VX, a fast-acting poison developed for warfare, sparked an international probe and lurid stories of Pyongyang’s Cold War-style tradecraft.

South Korea says its isolated neighbour was behind the assassination and claims the North’s agents engaged two outsiders to carry out the murder.

“They will be charged in court under Section 302 (murder) of the penal code,” Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali told AFP by text message, referring to the two suspects.

The women, from Indonesia and Vietnam, will appear in court on Wednesday. If convicted, they could face death by hanging.

Kim, a well-travelled polyglot who fell out of favour at home after a botched 2001 attempt to get into Japan on a false passport, died less than 20 minutes after he was set upon at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13.

Both women have claimed they thought they were taking part in a practical joke.

Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, reportedly told a senior diplomat on Saturday she had been paid just 400 ringgit ($90) for her role, adding she believed she was handling a liquid like “baby oil”.

N KOREAN OFFICIALS IN MALAYSIA FOR BODY

A high-level North Korean delegation arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday seeking the body.

North Korea opposed Malaysian officials even conducting an autopsy, while Malaysia has resisted giving up the body without getting DNA samples and confirmation from next of kin.

The delegation includes Ri Tong Il, a former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Nations, who told reporters outside the North Korean embassy that the diplomats were in Malaysia to retrieve the body and seek the release of a North Korean arrested in the case.

He said the delegation also wants “development of the friendly relationship” between North Korea and Malaysia.