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Kim Jong-un’s half-brother reportedly killed by female assassins at KL airport

He was allegedly assassinated by North Korean female agents using poisoned needles. However, the Malaysian police said they have not determined the cause of death.

Kim Jong-Nam, eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il smiling in southern China's casino haven of Macau on Jan 30, 2007. Photo: AFP

Kim Jong-Nam, eldest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il smiling in southern China's casino haven of Macau on Jan 30, 2007. Photo: AFP

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SEOUL/KUALA LUMPUR — The estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been killed in Malaysia, police said on Tuesday (Feb 14), after reports emerged earlier he was allegedly assassinated by North Korean female agents using poisoned needles.

Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and once considered a potential leader of the reclusive state, was killed by two women who attacked him at a Kuala Lumpur airport, South Korea’s TV Chosun reported without identifying its source.

TV Chosun said that the women fled in a taxi after the attack and that the local police were looking for them.

However, the Malaysian police said they have not determined the cause of death. The autopsy on Kim Jong-nam will be completed on Wednesday. 

“As of now, we cannot determine the real motive of the incident, including whether this is related to North Korea’s domestic or external affairs,” Berita Harian quoted Selangor police chief Abdul Samah Mat as saying. “Our focus now is to identify and apprehend the suspects.”

Kim Jong-nam’s case is the highest-profile death under the current regime since the execution of the leader’s uncle Jang Song-taek in December 2013.

News of the death comes two days after Pyongyang test-fired a ballistic missile as part of efforts to develop the country’s nuclear-weapons capability. The provocation drew a rebuke from the United Nations Security Council, with United States President Donald Trump vowing to deal with the threat “very strongly”.

Police official Fadzil Ahmat told Reuters that Kim Jong-nam had been planning to travel to Macau on Monday when he fell ill at the low-cost terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport. “The deceased ... felt like someone grabbed or held his face from behind,” Mr Fadzil said. “He felt dizzy, so he asked for help at the ... counter of KLIA.”

"He told the receptionist at the departure hall that someone had grabbed him from behind and splashed a liquid on his face," said Mr Fadzil.

Kim Jong-nam was taken to an airport clinic where he still felt unwell, and it was decided to take him to hospital. He died in the ambulance on the way to Putrajaya Hospital, Mr Fadzil added.

Mr Fadzil told Malaysian newspaper, The Star, that the police would investigate the victim's movements within the country, along with those he met. 

He also added that a request was put in by the North Korean Embassy for Kim Jong-nam's body. 

“However, we will perform the post-mortem first before releasing the body,” he said. 

The older half-brother of the current leader was known to spend a significant amount of his time outside the country and had spoken out publicly against his family’s dynastic control of the isolated state. Kim Jong-nam and Mr Kim Jong-un are both sons of Kim Jong-il, who died in late 2011, but from different mothers.

Kim Jong-nam was believed to be close to Jang, who was North Korea’s second-most-powerful man before being executed on the current leader’s orders four years ago.

Once considered an heir apparent, Kim Jong-nam reportedly fell out of favour with his father following an embarrassing botched attempt in 2001 to enter Japan on a forged passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland. He was known to travel regularly to Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.

He had said several times over the years that he had no interest in leading his country. “Personally I am against third-generation succession,” he told Japan’s Asahi TV in 2010. “I hope my younger brother will do his best for the sake of North Koreans’ prosperous lives.”
Media reports have claimed that Kim Jong-nam had been targeted in the past. In October 2012, South Korean prosecutors said a North Korean detained as a spy had admitted involvement in a plot to stage a hit-and-run car accident in China in 2010 targeting Kim Jong-nam. AGENCIES

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