4 North Korean spies involved in Kim killing: South Korea

SOUTH KOREA’S intelligence service told lawmakers Monday that four North Korean government spies were involved in the killing of the estranged half brother of North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un.

Lawmakers cited the National Intelligence Service as telling them in a private briefing that four of the North Koreans identified as suspects by Malaysian police investigating the February 13 death of Kim Jong-nam are from the Ministry of State Security, the North’s spy organ.

The NIS was quoted as saying that two other suspects are affiliated with Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry, according to Lee Cheol Woo, one of the lawmakers who attended the briefing. Another lawmaker Kim Byeong-ki cited the NIS as saying Kim Jong-un directed a “state-organized terror” to kill his brother. if it elaborated on what specific roles these North Korean suspects performed.

The NIS has a mixed record on reporting developments in the secretive North. The agency said it cannot confirm its reported assessment on Kim Jongnam’s death.

Malaysia hasn’t directly accused North Korea of having North Korean suspects, including a diplomat at the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian officials have said four North Korean men provided the two women with the VX agent, then fled Malaysia the same day.

It was unclear if those four were the four North Korean spies

AP South Korea has accused North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (right) of ordering the killing of Kim Jong-nam.