North Korea’s top envoy in Kuala Lumpur yesterday denounced Malaysia’s investigation into the apparent killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s exiled half-brother, calling it politically motivated and demanding a joint probe into the death.
The comments from North Korean Ambassador Kang Chol came amid rising tensions between North Korea and Malaysia over the death, with Malaysia recalling its ambassador to Pyongyang over what it called “baseless” allegations.
Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of Kim Jong-un, died last week after apparently being poisoned in a Kuala Lumpur airport. Security camera footage obtained by Japanese television appeared to show a careful and deliberate attack in which a woman comes up from behind him and holds something over his mouth.
Photo: AFP
Pyongyang demanded custody of Kim’s body and strongly objected to an autopsy. Malaysians not only went ahead, but also conducted a second autopsy, saying the results of the first were inconclusive.
Malaysian authorities said they were simply following procedure, but Kang questioned their motives.
“The investigation by the Malaysian police is not for the clarification of the cause of the death and search for the suspect, but it is out of the political aim,” Kang told reporters yesterday.
He referred to the dead man as “Kim Chol,” the name on the passport found with Kim Jong-nam.
Police had “pinned the suspicion on us,” Kang said, calling on Malaysia and the international community to work with North Korea on a joint investigation.
Kang previously said Malaysia might be “trying to conceal something.”
The Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had recalled its ambassador to Pyongyang “for consultations” and had summoned Kang to a meeting, “to seek an explanation on the accusations he made.”
The statement called Kang’s comments “baseless” and said it “takes very seriously any unfounded attempt to tarnish its reputation.”
Police investigating the killing have so far arrested four people carrying identity documents from North Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. Those arrested include two women who were allegedly seen approaching Kim Jong-nam on Feb. 13 as he stood at a ticketing kiosk at the budget terminal of the Kuala Lumpur airport.
Surveillance video footage, obtained by Fuji TV and often grainy and blurred, seems to show the two women approaching Kim Jong-nam from different directions. One comes up behind him and appears to hold something over his mouth for a few seconds, then the women turn and calmly walk off in different directions.
More footage shows Kim walking up to airport workers and security officials, gesturing at his eyes and seemingly asking for help. He then walks alongside as they lead him to the airport clinic.
Fuji TV has not revealed how it acquired the footage, which was taken by a series of security cameras as Kim arrived for a flight to Macau, where he had a home.
Investigators are still looking for four North Korean men who arrived in Malaysia on different days beginning Jan. 31 and flew out the same day as the attack.
Indonesian officials said three of those men transited through Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport after the apparent assassination, leaving on a 10:20pm flight to Dubai about 12 hours after the attack on Kim Jong-nam.
A fourth man flew out of Jakarta on Thursday to Bangkok, Indonesian immigration office spokesman Agung Sampurno said.
Autopsy results on Kim Jong-nam could be released as early as tomorrow, Malaysian Health Minister S. Subramaniam said.
The Malaysian foreign ministry said the government has kept the North Korean embassy informed, telling them that because “the death occurred in Malaysian soil under mysterious circumstances, it is the responsibility of the Malaysian government to conduct an investigation to identify the cause of death.”
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