North Korean leader's half-brother killed in M'sia
Published on: Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Kuala Lumpur: The estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been killed in Malaysia, a South Korean government source said Tuesday.Kim Jong-nam, the older half-brother of the North Korean 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.Poisoned needles were used in the assassination, South Korean broadcaster TV Chosun reported.ADVERTISEMENT The 45-year-old was poisoned by two unidentified female agents using poisoned needles at an airport in Kuala Lumpur, according to the TV station. The report, citing what it called multiple government sources, said the two women hailed a cab and fled immediately afterwards.In SEPANG, Sepang OCPD Asst Comm Abdul Aziz Ali, said a Korean in his forties was found sick at the airport on Monday.Airport authorities rushed him to the hospital and he died on the way, the police chief said."We do not have any other details of this Korean man. We do not know his identity," Abdul Aziz said. ADVERTISEMENT If confirmed, Kim's case would be the highest-profile death under the Kim Jong-Un regime since the execution of the leader's uncle Jang Song-Thaek in December 2013. An employee in the emergency ward of Putrajaya hospital said a deceased Korean there was born in 1970 and surnamed Kim.
ADVERTISEMENT
Kim Jong-nam and Kim Jong-un are both sons of former leader Kim Jong Il, who died in late 2011, but they had different mothers.Kim Jong-nam was believed to be close to his uncle, Jang Song-haek, who was North Korea's second most powerful man before being executed on Kim Jong-un's orders in 2013.In 2001, Kim Jong-nam was caught at an airport in Japan traveling on a fake passport, saying he had wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland. He was known to travel to Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.He said several times over the years that he had no interest in leading his country.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
"Personally, I am against third-generation succession," he told Japan's Asahi TV in 2010, before his younger had succeeded their father."I hope my younger brother will do his best for the sake of North Koreans' prosperous lives."