Malaysian police are seeking four North Korean men who left the country on the same day that Kim Jong-nam, the North Korean leader’s half-brother, was apparently assassinated with fast-acting poison at Kuala Lumpur airport. The killing, which investigators believe may have been an elaborate political hit job, has led to a diplomatic face-off between the two countries and refocused attention on Pyongyang, one of the world’s most isolated regimes with nuclear capabilities.
Police have arrested four people carrying identification documents from North Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam. The Indonesian woman has said she was duped into playing a role in the killing, believing she was part of a television comedy prank.
In the first police press conference since Kim died almost a week ago, Malaysia’s deputy national police chief, Noor Rashid Ibrahim, said four more suspects were on the run.
“I am not going disclose where they are,” he said, adding that Malaysia had filed information requests with Interpol, the global intelligence sharing organisation. He showed photographs of the men, identified as Ri Ji-hyon, 33, Hong Song-hac, 34, O Jong-gil, 55, and Ri Jae-nam, 57.
All four travelled into Malaysia on regular, rather than diplomatic, passports and spent less than a month in the country, leaving the same day that Kim died. Noor Rashid said police also wanted to question a fifth North Korean man, aged 30, who was not a suspect.
Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of the late dictator Kim Jong-Il, spent much of his life outside North Korea. He kept a low profile when his younger half-brother, Kim Jong-un, took power in 2011 and began a series of purges, some fatal, against senior members of his inner circle.
Waiting for a flight home to Macau last Monday morning, Kim Jong-nam was attacked by two women, one of whom was wearing a top with the letters LOL on the front. He rushed to the customer service desk and complained that the women had swabbed or wiped his face with liquid and he felt dizzy, Noor Rashid said.
Kim died en route to hospital after suffering a seizure, officials say. A photo of Kim slumped on a chair in the medical centre at Kuala Lumpur international airport was published in the local New Straits Times over the weekend.
To the dismay of the North Korean embassy, which demanded Malaysia immediately release the body without an autopsy, samples were taken for pathology and toxicology tests, which will be released in the next few days.
“We are trying very hard to get the next of kin to come and assist us in the investigation,” said Noor Rashid. Friends of Kim have said the family has become unreachable and may have gone into hiding.
Late on Friday North Korea’s ambassador Kang Chol threatened Malaysia, saying his country would file a case to the international court, without elaborating on which court. He said Malaysia may be “trying to conceal something”.
Officials from South Korea and the US, enemies of North Korea for decades, believe Kim was killed by agents sent from Pyongyang. He had spoken out publicly against his family’s dynastic control.
Kim is believed to have had two sons and a daughter. He lived in Macau, where South Korean intelligence said he received protection from the Chinese government, which has an uneasy but sometimes cooperative relationship with North Korea.
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