North Korean arrested in connection with the murder of Kim Jong-nam

So far, suspects included an Indonesian, her Malaysian boyfriend, and a Vietnamese. Silence in Pyongyang. But the North Korean ambassador in Kuala Lumpur demands that the autopsy be carried out in the presence of his representatives. Hypothesis for murder: He did not obey his brother’s order to return home. Kim Jong-nam was seeking asylum in a foreign country. 


Seoul (AsiaNews) - Police in Malaysia have arrested a North Korean in relation to the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the brother of the Pyongyang’s leader. Ri Jong Chol, 46, who has to has made frequent trips to Malaysia. Ri was one of four men who helped two women to murder - with some species of poison - Kim Jong-un’s half-brother.

Police in Malaysia have also confirmed that the dead man is just Kim Jong-nam, although the passport he was traveling on bore the name Kim Chol. The results of the autopsy and the cause of death have not yet been made public.

So far, two women and a man had been arrested in connection with his violent death. One is an Indonesian woman, Siti Aisyah, who said she was paid to carry out a practical joke. The man, a Malaysian, was the Siti Aisyah’s boyfriend. The other woman has Vietnamese passport with the name Doan Thi Huong. The North Korean was arrested last night near Selangor, near the capital Kuala Lumpur.

South Korea’s secret services believe that kill Kim Jong-nam was ordered by his half-brother, who wanted to eliminate any possible threat to his rule, although Kim Jong-nam has never expressed a desire to take power. Pyongyang has so far not commented or given any news of the death of Kim Jong-nam, but is demanding his body be delivered to the North Korean authorities. Kang Chol, North Korea’s ambassador in Kuala Lumpur, said that his country will not accept any outcome of the autopsy on the body without the presence of its representatives. He also warned Malaysia not to cooperate with "hostile forces" that are targeting North Korea.

Experts in South Korea speculate that Kim was killed because he was looking for asylum in some other country, after North Korea had cut off his all funds.

Koh Yu-hwan, a professor at Dongguk University says that "the assassination may have been carried out to prevent an attempt to seek asylum".

A fugitive of North Korea, who previously held a high-ranking position, instead maintains that Kim was killed because he refused to obey his brother’s order to return to Pyongyang.