Women suspected in Kim Jong Nam killing to be charged, Malaysia says
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Two women will be charged with murder in connection with the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, Malaysian officials said Tuesday.
Siti Aisyah, 25, of Indonesia, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, of Vietnam, could receive the death penalty. Police said the two women rubbed a deadly nerve agent on the face of Kim Jong Nam as he prepared to check in for a flight at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on the morning of Feb. 13.
Word of the charges came as North Korea began a diplomatic effort to repair the damage from the killing of Kim Jong Nam, sending delegations to Beijing and Kuala Lumpur in a rare outreach by the reclusive nation as it faced accusations it carried out the brazen assassination.
The delegation to Beijing was led by Vice Foreign Minister Ri Gil Song, said the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, which did not provide further details. The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed Ri was visiting at its invitation and would meet with China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi.
Ri is the most senior North Korean official to visit Beijing since a delegation met with President Xi Jinping of China in May. His trip came five days after the North lashed out at China in unusually bitter language for tightening sanctions by suspending all coal imports from North Korea for the rest of the year, depriving North Korea of one of its most important sources of hard currency.
The two women facing charges in Kim Jong Nam’s murder were arrested soon after the Feb. 13 attack and have said they thought they were participating in a prank.
Police also have arrested a North Korean man, Ri Jong Chol, and are seeking seven others. South Korean officials have accused the government of North Korea of ordering the assassination. There was no word yet on whether Malaysian officials would charge Ri Jong Chol in the attack.
With relations between Malaysia and North Korea fraying over the killing, a high-level North Korean delegation, including the former deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Ri Dong Il, arrived in the Malaysian capital to discuss taking Kim Jong Nam’s body to North Korea, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported from Kuala Lumpur.
Ri Dong Il, the envoy, said he also would demand the release of Ri Jong Chol, the one North Korean who has been arrested in the case, Yonhap reported.
“We are here to discuss human rights issues and find an agreement,” Ri told reporters outside the North
Korean Embassy.
North Korea is widely considered to have one of the world’s worst human rights records that includes enslavement and torture of political prisoners, extrajudicial executions and forced abortions.
Ri also said he would discuss “strengthening friendly
relations” with Malaysia.
Whether Malaysia is prepared to discuss friendly relations remains to be seen. Officials at the Malaysian Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the standoff over the release of the body and the detention of Ri Jong Chol.