China uncovers plot to kill Kim Jong-un’s nephew
North Korea implicated in assassination attempt on man whose father died in chemical attack at airport
TWO North Korean assassins have been caught plotting to murder the son of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother, who was killed in a chemical attack at Kuala Lumpur airport in February. Citing North Korean sources, South Korea’s Joongang Ilbo newspaper said seven agents had been involved in a plot to kill Kim Han-sol, nephew of the North Korean dictator, in Beijing.
Two men were arrested by the Chinese Ministry of National Security but it is thought the remaining agents may still be at large.
The Chinese authorities reportedly detected the plot during heightened security measures introduced around the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party in Beijing last month.
The attempt on Kim Han-sol’s life comes as two women, an Indonesian and a Vietnamese, remain on trial in Malaysia for killing his father. Kim Jong-nam died after two women smeared VX, a nerve agent, on his face. After his father’s death, Kim Han-sol went into hiding with his mother and younger sister.
It is possible that Kim Han-sol and his family remained in China under the protection of Beijing, which also extended protection for his father when he was in the country. There have been suggestions that Beijing saw Kim Jongnam as a potential North Korean leader should his half-brother be overthrown.
Apparently wary of a challenge from Kim Jong-nam, analysts believe that Kim Jong-un ordered his assassination. Pyongyang has denied that allegation.
With Kim Jong-nam dead, Kim Hansol is one of the few remaining blood lines to the world’s only hereditary communist dynasty.
While only in his 20s, Kim Han-sol appears to be very different to the present leader.
He is likely to have incurred the wrath of his uncle after describing him as a “dictator” in a television interview in 2012. He said his ambition was to help the people of North Korea. ♦ As many as 200 North Korean labourers are believed to have died after a mine shaft at the regime’s nuclear test site collapsed. Sources in North Korea told Japan’s Asahi TV news channel that a tunnel being excavated by 100 workers at the Punggye-ri test site collapsed earlier this month. An additional 100 rescuers were reportedly killed when the tunnel suffered a second collapse. The accidents happened shortly after North Korea conducted its sixth – and most powerful – underground nuclear test at the site.