Kim Jong Un’s half-brother murdered with poison, South Korea says
The sudden death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half-brother was murder, South Korean officials announced Wednesday.
According to (DID) news agency report, quoting from foreign media, Kim Jong Nam died Monday soon after becoming ill at Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) before an outbound flight to Macau.
Lee Cheol Woo, chairman of South Korea’s National Assembly Intelligence Committee, told a press briefing Wednesday that Kim had been poisoned, but he did not say how. It’s not clear how he obtained that information.
South Korea’s Unification Ministry told CNN they were working with Malaysian authorities to get additional information on the death.
Many questions still remain around Kim’s killing.
Police have described the incident as a “sudden death,” pending the results of a postmortem investigation. South Korean media is reporting that Kim was in his 40s.
“So far there are no suspects, but we have started investigations and are looking at a few possibilities to get leads,” Selangor State Criminal Investigations Department Chief Fadzil Ahmat said.
“The deceased … felt like someone grabbed or held his face from behind,” Fadzil said. “He felt dizzy, so he asked for help at the … counter of KLIA.”
South Korea’s acting President and Prime Minister held a National Security Council meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss the death, according to a statement released by the Blue House.
