Malaysian police yesterday named a senior official in North Korea’s embassy and a staffer at its state airline who are wanted for questioning over the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Kim Jong-nam, 46, was killed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday last week while preparing to board a flight to Macau, where he lived in exile with his family under the protection of Beijing.
South Korean and US officials say the killing of the elder half-brother of Kim Jong-un was an assassination carried out by agents of the North.
Photo: EPA
Kim Jong-nam had spoken out publicly against his family’s dynastic control of the state.
Malaysian Police Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar named the North Korean diplomat wanted for questioning as 44-year-old Hyon Kwang-song and said he held the rank of second secretary at the embassy.
Khalid identified the Air Koryo staffer as Kim Uk-il, 37.
He said both were in Malaysia, but gave no further details.
“They’ve been called in for assistance. We hope the embassy will cooperate with us and allow us to interview them quickly or else we will compel them to come to us,” Khalid told reporters.
Malaysia has so far identified a total of eight North Koreans suspected of being linked to killing.
One, Ri Jong-chol, is in custody, and another, Ri Ji-u, remains at large.
Two women suspected of carrying out the killing have been detained — one Vietnamese and one Indonesian.
Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs official Lalu Muhammad Iqbal said it was premature to draw conclusions about the Indonesian citizen’s involvement.
“The fact that investigators have asked for an extension to the remand shows that the evidence so far is not enough to bring charges or prosecute,” he said in a statement.
North Korea’s embassy yesterday issued a statement calling for the immediate release of Ri Jong-chol, and the two women, saying that they were innocent.
The embassy statement did not address the police request to interview one of its diplomats.
The embassy ridiculed the police account of Kim Jong-nam’s death, saying there was no way for the two women to have poisoned him.
If the toxins were on their hands, “then how is it possible that these female suspects could still be alive?” the statement said.
Security was stepped up at the morgue where Kim Jong-nam’s body is being held after an attempted break-in earlier this week, Khalid said.
Malaysia has denied North Korea’s request for the body to be handed over to its embassy directly, saying it would be released to the next of kin, though none has come forward.
Khalid said police “strongly believed” four others were back in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, having fled Malaysia on the day of the attack.
Police have not stated Ri Jong-chol’s role in the killing.
He lived in Malaysia for three years without working at the company registered on his employment permit or receiving a salary.
The first suspects to be arrested last week were the two women, who are suspected of carrying out the fatal assault using a fast-acting poison.
Khalid said both women wiped a liquid, containing an as yet unidentified toxic substance, on Kim Jong-nam’s face.
“Yes, the two female suspects knew that the substance they had was toxic. We don’t know what kind of chemical was used,” he said, dismissing speculation that the women had thought they were part of a prank.
“They used their bare hands,” he said, adding that they were instructed to wash their hands afterward.
Additional reporting by AP
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