N Korea hits out at killing inquiry
MALAYSIA: Tensions between North Korea and Malaysia became even more heated yesterday, when Pyongyang’s envoy said Malaysia could not be trusted to carry out the investigation into last week’s killing of leader Kim Jong Un’s half-brother, and Malaysia’s prime minister defended the investigation as ‘‘objective.’’
Kim’s regime is widely accused of orchestrating the sensational assassination of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur airport last week.
In the latest dramatic developments, Kim Han Sol, the 20-something son of Kim Jong Nam, is thought to have arrived in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Malaysian authorities have been insisting on a DNA match before releasing the body, so Kim Han Sol could have arrived to provide it.
North Korea has become angrier by the day over the case, accusing Malaysia of colluding with South Korea to try to make it look bad, and of committing ‘‘human rights abuses’’ in the way the autopsy was conducted and its treatment of a North Korean suspect and his family.
‘‘We cannot trust the investigation by the Malaysian police,’’ Kang Chol, Pyongyang’s envoy, said yesterday, noting there had been no evidence released of the cause of death a week after the attack.
‘‘It only increases the doubt that there could be someone else’s hand behind the investigation,’’ he said, echoing a previous allegation that South Korea is trying to malign North Korea, and accusing Malaysia of defaming his country.
He proposed that North Korea and Malaysia open a joint investigation into Kim Jong Nam’s death.
Kang’s statement came after he was summoned to the Malaysian foreign ministry over his criticism of Kuala Lumpur’s investigation. Meanwhile, Malaysia recalled its ambassador to Pyongyang for ‘‘consultations’’.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak rejected the suggestion of a joint investigation, saying that his government’s investigation into the killing would be ‘‘objective’’ and that Malaysian police and doctors were ‘‘very professional’’.
‘‘We have no reason why we want to do something to paint North Korea in a bad light,’’ Najib said.
The autopsy results could be out today.
With one North Korean in custody in Malaysia and at least four of his compatriots suspected of involvement, South Korea yesterday voiced increasing certainty that the North Korean regime was behind the assassination.
‘‘It seems clear that the North Korean regime is behind this case,’’ Hwang Kyo-ahn, the South Korean prime minister and acting president, told a meeting of the National Security Council yesterday.
The apparent assassination of Kim Jong Nam was an ‘‘unacceptable, inhumane, criminal act’’ and Pyongyang should be punished for committing the ‘‘act of terrorism’’, he said. – Washington Post