Kim Jong-un’s half-brother killed at Kuala Lumpur airport
Kim Jong-nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s estranged half-brother, was killed in an apparent assassination in the morning of February 14 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, Malaysian police and the South Korean government confirmed.
It seemed that he was the victim of a poison attack since he was found with his head wrapped in cloth believed to contain some kind of liquid. The attack occurred in the shopping area of the airport as Jong-nam prepared to board a flight to his home in Macau. He had not yet passed security.
South Korea’s spy agency CID said that two women believed to be North Korean operatives poisoned the 45-year-old by splashing a liquid on his face. Police were studying security camera footage from the airport. Images focused on two female persons alongside Jong-nam who were later seen leaving the scene in a taxi. They still remain at large.
The CID on February 15 said the have received a request for the body from the North Korean embassy in Malaysia.
Jong-nam and Jong-un are both sons of former leader Kim Jong-il, who died in late 2011, but they had different mothers. Jong-nam was believed to be close to his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, who was North Korea’s second most powerful man before being executed on Jong-un’s orders in 2013.
In 2001, Jong-nam was caught at an airport in Japan traveling on a fake Dominican passport, saying he had wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland. He was known to travel to Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau and Beijing and spending more time outside than in side North Korea and eventually settled down in exile in Macau under Beijing’s protection.
He also was reportedly involved in some of North Korea’s illicit business operations and used Macau’s casinos for money laundering activities. Later on, Jong-nam became known as an occasional critic of his family’s regime and an advocate for reform.
Media reports in 2015 said that North Korean spies already attempted to kill Jong-nam in Macau in 2011 but did not succeed. This week’s assassination is believed to have been orchestrated from highest ranks in Pyongyang, South Korean intelligence says.
[caption id="attachment_29501" align="alignleft" width="300"] South Korean TV reporting Kim Jong-nam's demise[/caption] Kim Jong-nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s estranged half-brother, was killed in an apparent assassination in the morning of February 14 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, Malaysian police and the South Korean government confirmed. It seemed that he was the victim of a poison attack since he was found with his head wrapped in cloth believed to contain some kind of liquid. The attack occurred in the shopping area of the airport as Jong-nam prepared to board a flight to his home in Macau. He had not yet passed...
Kim Jong-nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s estranged half-brother, was killed in an apparent assassination in the morning of February 14 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, Malaysian police and the South Korean government confirmed.
It seemed that he was the victim of a poison attack since he was found with his head wrapped in cloth believed to contain some kind of liquid. The attack occurred in the shopping area of the airport as Jong-nam prepared to board a flight to his home in Macau. He had not yet passed security.
South Korea’s spy agency CID said that two women believed to be North Korean operatives poisoned the 45-year-old by splashing a liquid on his face. Police were studying security camera footage from the airport. Images focused on two female persons alongside Jong-nam who were later seen leaving the scene in a taxi. They still remain at large.
The CID on February 15 said the have received a request for the body from the North Korean embassy in Malaysia.
Jong-nam and Jong-un are both sons of former leader Kim Jong-il, who died in late 2011, but they had different mothers. Jong-nam was believed to be close to his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, who was North Korea’s second most powerful man before being executed on Jong-un’s orders in 2013.
In 2001, Jong-nam was caught at an airport in Japan traveling on a fake Dominican passport, saying he had wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland. He was known to travel to Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau and Beijing and spending more time outside than in side North Korea and eventually settled down in exile in Macau under Beijing’s protection.
He also was reportedly involved in some of North Korea’s illicit business operations and used Macau’s casinos for money laundering activities. Later on, Jong-nam became known as an occasional critic of his family’s regime and an advocate for reform.
Media reports in 2015 said that North Korean spies already attempted to kill Jong-nam in Macau in 2011 but did not succeed. This week’s assassination is believed to have been orchestrated from highest ranks in Pyongyang, South Korean intelligence says.
