Names of 4 suspects revealed in court

SHAH ALAM: The names of the four men alleged to be involved in the assassination of North Korean Kim Chol were revealed at the High Court yesterday.

Assistant Superintendent Wan Azirul Che Wan Aziz said the suspects, who were only known by their nicknames Mr Chang, Mr Y, Hanamori @ Grandpa/Uncle and Mr James, were Hong Song Sac, 34, Ri Ji Hyon, 33, Ri Jae Nam, 57, and O Jong Gil, 55.

Wan Azirul, who is the investigating officer handling the case, told the court that he obtained the names from Bukit Aman Special Branch intelligence.

He was testifying in the trial of Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, who were charged with murdering Kim Chol (who was believed to be Kim Jong-nam, the estranged halfbrother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un) using VX nerve agent at klia2 about 9am on Feb 13.

Wan Azirul told the court that the four men were North Koreans and that they left Malaysia on the

day of the incident.

Deputy public prosecutor Mihammad Iskandar Ahmad: Give the identity of the four suspects who are still at large.

Wan Azirul: Hong Song Hac, also known as Mr Chang, arrived in Malaysia on Jan 31, 2017 and flew out of the country on Feb 13, 2017.

Ri Ji Hyon, also known as Mr Y, arrived in Malaysia on Feb 4, 2017 and flew out of the country on Feb 13, 2017.

Ri Jae Nam, also known as Hanamori, arSiti rived in Malaysia on Feb 1, 2017, and left the country on Feb 13, 2017.

O Jong Gil, also known as James, arrived in Malaysia on Feb 7, 2017, and left the country on Feb 13, 2017.

Wan Azirul said investigations revealed Song Hac, Jae Nam and Ji Hyon left Malaysia and took a flight to Jakarta at 12.30pm the same day. He, however, could not recount Jong Gil’s movements as he did not have his notebook with him during the proceedings yesterday.

Wan Azirul also testified that James’ identity and details from Aisyah’s handphone was Ri Ji U, 36, a North Korean.

He said, however, there was no record of Ji U’s movement or of him entering or leaving the country. When asked by Iskandar on the next step he took after obtaining the names, Wan Azirul said he applied for a warrant of arrest through Interpol.

Wan Azirul had also in his testimony showed closed-circuit television camera footage of James with an officer from the North Korea embassy and a manager from Air Koryo, a North Korea airline.

Trial continues today before judge Datuk Azmi Ariffin.