North Korea tyrant’s half-brother ‘assassinated by his female spies’
THE half-brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has been assassinated by spies from the rogue state, sources said yesterday.
Exiled Kim Jong-nam was murdered by two female assailants armed with “poisoned needles” at Kuala Lumpur Airport, Malaysia, on Monday, South Korean TV has claimed.
Other sources reported that two women sprayed him in the face with a poisonous liquid.
Police chiefs revealed that Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of the late former leader Kim Jong-il, felt dizzy after feeling like “someone had grabbed or held his face from behind”.
He was taken to an airport clinic before doctors decided to call an ambulance but he died shortly after arriving at hospital. The two female assailants were said to be on the run last night after escaping in a taxi, according to reports.
Fake
A US government source said the United States believed that North Korean agents were responsible for the death.
Malaysian police said Kim Jong-nam, believed to be 46, had been planning to travel to Macau and held a passport under the name of Kim Chol. It is not the first time he had used fake travel documents.
Malaysian police official Fadzil Ahmat said: “While waiting for the flight, a woman came from behind and covered his face with a cloth laced with a liquid.
“Following this, the man was seen struggling for help and managed to obtain the assistance of a Kuala Lumpur airport receptionist as his eyes suffered burns as a result of the liquid. Moments later, he was sent to the Putrajaya Hospital where he was confirmed dead.”
In 2001, Mr Kim was caught at an airport in Japan travelling with a fake passport.
He said he wanted to visit Disneyland in Tokyo.
Kim had lived in exile since 2003 and was seen as a potential threat to Kim Jong-un’s leadership after their father’s death in 2011.
Mohmad Salleh, the Malaysian CID director, said: “Kim Jongnam was feeling unwell on Monday morning while he was waiting for a flight to Macau at Kuala Lumpur airport.
“He was taken to a clinic for further treatment, but because of the condition he was in, he was rushed to Putrajaya hospital. Police have classified the death of Kim Jong-nam as a sudden death and are waiting for the full postmortem report to decide further action.”
If the assassination was ordered by North Korea, it would be the highest-profile death under the regime since the 2013 execution of Kim Jong-un’s uncle, Jang Song-thaek.
Kim Jong-nam had been a vocal critic of his family’s control of the isolated state.
He was believed to be close to his uncle before his death.
Mr Kim was reportedly targeted by North Korean assassins before. In 2012 a spy of the isolated regime admitted trying to organise a hit-and-run accident to kill him. And in 2011, he survived a shoot out between hitmen and his bodyguards.