Attackers of Kim’s kin used toxic hands
Malaysia says the two women who killed Kim Jong Nam were trained to wipe poison on his face.
The two women suspected of fatally poisoning a scion of North Korea’s ruling fam- ily were trained to coat their hands with toxic chemicals and then wipe them on his face, police in Malaysia said Wednesday, announcing they were seeking a North Korean diplomat in connection with the attack.
But the North Korean Embassy ridiculed the police account of Kim Jong Nam’s death at a Malaysian airport, demanding the immediate release of the two “inno- cent women.”
If the toxins had been on their hands “then how is it possible that these female suspects could still be alive?” read a statement from North Korea’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Police say the women — one of them Indo- nesian, the other Vietnamese — washed their hands soon after poisoning Kim, the long-estranged half brother of the North Korean ruler.
Earlier Wednesday, Inspec- tor-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters that authorities are searching for two new North Korean suspects, the second sec- retary of North Korea’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur and an employee of North Korea’s state-owned airline, Air Koryo.
“We hope that the Korean Embassy will cooperate with us, allow us to inter- view them and interview them quickly,” he said. “If not, we will compel them to come to us.”
Police say the substance used remains unknown, but it was potent enough to kill Kim before he could even make it to a hospital.
Khalid said the women knew they were handling poisonous materials and “were warned to take precautions.” Surveillance video showed both keeping their hands away from their bod- ies after the attack, he said, then going to restrooms to wash. Those details are not clear in video obtained by media outlets.
He said the women had practiced the attack at two Kuala Lumpur malls.
“We strongly believe it is a planned thing and that they have been trained,” he told reporters.
Khalid couldn’t confirm whether North Korea’s government was behind Kim’s death but added, “What is clear is that those involved are North Koreans.”
He also said a heavily armed special police force was deployed to the morgue holding Kim Jong Nam’s body after police detected an attempt to break into the facility. He declined to give details, but local media reported that a South Korean cameraman was detained briefly outside the morgue after he was found without any identification documents.