Half-brother of North Korean leader ‘assassinated’ in Malaysia

SEOUL: North Korean female agents using poisoned needles have assassinated the half-brother of the North’s leader Kim Jong-Un in Malaysia, South Korean media reported on Tuesday. Officials in Seoul and Kuala Lumpur could not confirm the death of Kim Jong-Nam, once seen as heir apparent in the North. Malaysian police said in a statement late on Tuesday that a North Korean man, identified as Kim Chol, sought medical assistance at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and died on the way to hospital. South Korean media reports meanwhile said Jong-Nam had travelled using a fake passport under the name of Kim Chol. If confirmed, it would be the highest-profile death under the Jong-Un regime since the execution of the leader’s uncle Jang Song-Thaek in December 2013. Jong-Un has been trying to strengthen his grip on power in the face of growing international pressure over his country’s nuclear and missile programmes. He has reportedly staged a series of executions. The latest launch of a new intermediate-range missile on Sunday brought UN Security Council condemnation and vows of a strong response from US President Donald Trump. South Korea’s national news agency Yonhap quoted a source as saying agents of the North’s spy agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, carried out the assassination on Monday by taking advantage of a security loophole between Jong-Nam’s bodyguards and Malaysian police at the airport. The 45-year-old was killed by two unidentified female agents using poisoned needles at the airport, according to South Korean broadcaster TV Chosun. It said the women hailed a cab and fled immediately afterwards. Jong-Nam, the eldest son of former leader Kim Jong-Il, was once seen as heir apparent but fell out of favour following an embarrassing botched attempt in 2001 to enter Japan on a forged passport and visit Disneyland. He has since lived in virtual exile, mainly in the Chinese territory of Macau. Jong-Nam’s half-brother Jong-Un took over as leader when their father died in December 2011. Jong-Nam, known as an advocate of reform in the North, once told a Japanese newspaper that he opposed his country’s dynastic power transfers. He was reportedly close to his uncle Song-Thaek, once the North’s unofficial number two and political mentor of the current leader. Cheong Seong-Jang, senior researcher at Seoul’s Sejong Institute think-tank, said Jong-Nam had been living in near-exile so it was unlikely that Jong-Un saw him as a potential competitor for power. Jong-Nam was born from his father’s extra-marital relationship with Sung Hae-Rim, a South Korean-born actress who died in Moscow. — AFP