DEEPENING ROW: Malaysia has recalled its envoy to Pyongyang and summoned the North Korean envoy to Kuala Lumpur -
KUALA LUMPUR: Footage from airport cameras purportedly showing the assault on the half-brother of the North Korean leader emerged on Monday as a diplomatic row between Malaysia and North Korea escalated over the handling of a probe into the killing of Kim Jong Nam.
Malaysia recalled its envoy from Pyongyang and summoned North Korea’s ambassador in Kuala Lumpur to explain his accusations that Malaysian authorities were colluding “with external forces” over the investigation into the slaying of leader Kim Jung Un’s estranged half-brother.
Malaysian police are hunting four North Koreans who fled the country on the day of the attack, having already detained one North Korean man, a Vietnamese woman, an Indonesian woman, and a Malaysian man.
South Korean and US officials have said the killing was probably carried out by North Korean agents.
CCTV footage, released by Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV, purportedly showed Kim Jong Nam being assaulted in Kuala Lumpur International Airport by a woman, who is believed to have wiped a fast-acting poison on his face.
Malaysia’s determination to carry out an autopsy and refusal to hand over the body directly to North Korea prompted the North Korean ambassador to question the motives of Malaysian authorities in rare comments to the media on Friday.
Malaysia’s foreign ministry rejected the allegations in a statement announcing the withdrawal “for consultations” of its ambassador in North Korea and the summoning of the North Korean envoy in Kuala Lumpur to explain his remarks.
“In his press conference, the Ambassador ... insinuated that ... the Malaysian Government had ‘something to conceal’. The Ambassador also alleged that Malaysia was ‘colluding and playing into the gallery of external forces’,” it said.
The ministry said the body would be handed over to the next of kin, although none had come forward.
Acutely sensitive to events in its unpredictable and volatile neighbour, South Korea convened a meeting of its National Security Council on Monday.
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn told the meeting that it was nearly certain that North Korea was behind the killing.
Kim Jong Nam, 46, who has been living in the Chinese territory of Macau under Beijing’s protection, had spoken out publicly against his family’s dynastic control of isolated, nuclear-armed North Korea.
“The murder carried out in public at an international airport of a third country is an unforgivable and inhumane criminal act and clearly demonstrates the recklessness and brutality of the North Korean regime that will spare no avenues when it comes to perpetuating itself,” Hwang said.
“As was seen in this case, the North Korean regime’s terrorism tactics are getting bolder so we must be more vigilant about the possibility of terror by the North Korean regime against our government and people,” he said.
The grainy CCTV images, which have been posted on several websites, showed Kim, wearing a light-coloured jacket and pants and with a backpack on one shoulder, heading for an automatic check-in counter in the airport departure hall.
A woman is seen approaching Kim from behind on the left and another - identified by Fuji as the Vietnamese woman, wearing dark pants and a white shirt - walks rapidly up behind him from his right, before what appears to be a scuffle takes place.
In footage taken from another angle the woman in the white shirt appears to lunge from behind and throw something over his head, locking her arms around him briefly.
As she quickly walks away, the second woman also moves off rapidly in another direction, although it was unclear what role she had in the assault.
Later footage showed the portly, balding middle-aged man stumbling, wiping his face, and seeking help from people while gesturing to his eyes before being escorted to a clinic.
Just as he enters the clinic his steps appear unsteady, and as he goes inside medical personnel appear to move urgently.
— Reuters
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