Row over Kim murder heats up
North Korea and Malaysia trade barbs as footage of killing emerges
KUALA LUMPUR // North Korea and Malaysia yesterday locked horns over the investigation into the killing of leader Kim Jong- un’s brother, as footage emerged of the moment he was attacked in a Kuala Lumpur airport.
Malaysia’s inquest has put five North Koreans in the frame for the airport assassination of Kim Jong-nam, but Pyongyang said it had no faith in the investigation and claimed Kuala Lumpur was in cahoots with “hostile forces”.
The diplomatic confrontation gathered pace yesterday when Malaysia recalled its envoy to North Korea and summoned Pyongyang’s ambassador, Kang Chol.
In his response, Mr Kang said: “It has been seven days since the incident, but there is no clear evidence on the cause of death and at the moment we cannot trust the investigation by the Malaysian police.”
The Malaysian response to his remarks was equally blunt. Foreign minister Anifah Aman said North Korea’s complaints were based on “delusions, lies and half-truths”.
Any suggestion that the investigation had a political motive was “deeply insulting to Malaysia”, he said. Pyongyang has criticised Malaysia for carrying out a post-mortem examination without North Korean permission – a complaint Kuala Lumpur said was groundless.
“The ministry emphasised that as the death occurred on Malaysian soil under mysterious circumstances, it is the responsibility of the Malaysian government to conduct an investigation to identify the cause of death,” said Malaysia’s foreign ministry. “The Malaysian government takes very seriously any unfounded attempt to tarnish its reputation. The Malaysian government views the criticism as baseless.”
Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak said he had “absolute confidence” that the police and doctors had been “very objective” in their work.
Mr Najib said Malaysia had no reason to “paint the North Koreans in a bad light”. Mr Kang previously said Malaysia might be “trying to conceal something”.
Surveillance video footage, obtained by Fuji Television and often grainy and blurred, seems to show two women approaching Kim Jong-nam from different directions. One comes up behind him and appears to hold something over his mouth for a few seconds. Then the women turn and calmly walk off in different di- rections. More footage shows Kim, a long-estranged scion of the family that has ruled North Korea for three generations, walking up to airport workers and security officials, gesturing at his eyes and asking for help. He then walks alongside as they lead him to the airport clinic.
Fuji Television has not revealed how it acquired the video, which was taken by a series of security cameras as Kim arrived for a flight to Macau, where he had a home. Photographs showing a man slumped in a chair at the clinic, consistent with the surveillance images of the attack, were published in the Malaysian press over the weekend. Kim, in his mid- 40s, died shortly after the attack, en route to a hospital after suffering a seizure, Malaysian officials said. Seoul has blamed Pyongyang for the attack last Monday, citing a “standing order” from Kim Jong-un to kill his elder brother and a failed assassination attempt in 2012 after he criticised the regime.
The claim was bolstered over the weekend, with Malaysian police saying they believed five North Koreans were involved in the killing. One of them was already in custody and four were believed to have fled Malaysia on the day of the murder.
Detectives are also holding an Indonesian woman and her Malaysian boyfriend, as well as a Vietnamese woman. Three other North Koreans were wanted for questioning, police said. At least three of the wanted North Koreans took a flight from Jakarta to Dubai on the evening of the murder, said an Indonesian immigration official. They had travelled from Malaysia to Jakarta and then to Dubai before returning to Pyongyang through Russia, Malaysian media quoted official sources as saying.
South Korea’s unification minister, Hong Yong-pyo, said yesterday it was becoming even more clear that the North Korean government was behind the killing of Kim.
“The Malaysian government is prudently investigating the case and we think it’s significant that it officially announced North Korean suspects were involved,” he said.