The half-brother of North Korean strongman, Kim Jong-Un, has been assassinated in Malaysia, AFP reported on Tuesday. According to news agency, citing sources in South Korea, he was attacked at the main airport, by two ladies, with poisoned needles.
According to Malaysian police, an unidentified Korean had been taken sick at Kuala Lumpur International Airport and he later died.
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.
Kim Jong-Un has been trying to strengthen his grip on power in the face of growing international pressure over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
South Korea’s national news agency Yonhap quoted a Seoul government source as saying Kim Jong-Nam was killed on Monday.
The 45-year-old was poisoned by two unidentified women, being referred to as female agents of North Korean regime, who apparently used poisoned needles to attack him at an airport in Kuala Lumpur. South Korean broadcaster TV Chosen reported.
The report, citing what it called multiple government sources, added that the two women later hailed a cab and fled immediately afterward. They could not be arrested.
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Kim-jong Nam
Kim-jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim-Jong Um, was close to his uncle Jang Song-Thaek, once the North’s unofficial number two and political mentor of the current leader.
Jong-Nam has 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.
North Korean missile test
Recently, North Korea again tested a ballistic missile in the Sea of Japan when Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, was on an official visit to Washington DC to meet the U.S President Donald Trump. North Korean test, seen as an act of provocation, generated condemnations from UN security council and many other countries around the world. Japanese Prime Minister called the test “an act of aggression” Kim Jong-Un has been trying to strengthen his grip on power in the face of growing international pressure over North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.