First pictures of 'female assassin' sent by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to poison half-brother at airport
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These CCTV images are reported to show a suspect in the audacious poisoning of Kim Jong Un's half-brother in an airport.
South Korea confirmed last night that a 46-year-old man who died after falling ill at Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur airport has been identified as Kim Jong Nam.
He was the chubby and more sociable half-brother of the North Korean despot.
But he fell foul of Kim Jong Un years ago after criticising his regime and had been living in exile.
Jong Nam is believed to have been grabbed from behind and smothered with a cloth soaked in poison as he waited to board a flight.
(Photo: AFP)
(Photo: YTN)
(Photo: Getty)
There was a previous attempt on his life in 2012, South Korean spy agencies confirmed.
He was at Kuala Lumpur's low cost terminal to catch a flight to Macau on Monday morning when the extraordinary assassination unfolded.
Criminal investigation chief Fadzil Ahmat said: "He told the receptionist at the departure hall that someone had grabbed his face from behind and splashed some liquid on him.
"He asked for help and was immediately sent to the airport's clinic.
"At this point, he was experiencing headache and was on the verge of passing out.
"At the clinic, the victim experienced a mild seizure.
"He was put into an ambulance and was being taken to the Putrajaya Hospital when he was pronounced dead."
Malaysian authorities are now trying to confirm a cause of death.
(Photo: AFP)
(Photo: AFP)
Police confirmed CCTV confirmed at least one woman was involved in the attack.
Images of an alleged suspect appeared on Korean channel YTN last night.
They show a woman with short, dark hair, in a white long-sleeved top and holding a bag.
The mysterious death has gripped several countries Asia and conflicting details continue to emerge.
South Korea's TV Chosun reported that Jong Nam had been poisoned with a needle by two women believed to be North Korean operatives who then fled in a taxi.
Meanwhile, Japanese media claim the two women behind the assassination are already dead.
Kim Jong Nam had been living with his second wife in the Chinese territory of Macau, under Beijing's protection.
He is also believed to have had a second wife and son in Beijing.
Jong Nam had spoken out publicly against his family's dynastic control of the isolated state.
(Photo: AFP)
"If the murder of Kim Jong Nam was confirmed to be committed by the North Korean regime, that would clearly depict the brutality and inhumanity of the Kim Jong Un regime," South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the country's acting president, told a security council meeting.
Malaysian police said the dead man, 46, held a passport under the name Kim Chol.
(Photo: Reuters)
(Photo: Reuters)
Kim Jong Nam was known to spend a significant amount of time outside North Korea, traveling in Macau and Hong Kong as well as mainland China, and has been caught in the past using forged travel documents.
Malaysian police said on Tuesday the cause of Kim's death was not yet known, and that a post-mortem would be carried out.
(Photo: AFP)
Kim's body was taken on Wednesday morning to a second hospital, where a post-mortem exam was being performed.
North Korean embassy officials had arrived at the hospital and were coordinating with local authorities, police sources said.
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 Thaek, who was North Korea's second most powerful man before being executed on Kim Jong Un's orders in 2013.
Kim Jong Nam was said to be the heir to his father's leadership.
(Photo: Getty)
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."
"Personally I am against third-generation succession," he told Japan's Asahi TV in 2010, before his younger brother had succeeded their father.
"I hope my younger brother will do his best for the sake of North Koreans' prosperous lives."
Malaysia is one of a dwindling number of countries that has close relations with North Korea, which is under tightening global sanctions over its nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches, the latest of which took place on Sunday.
Malaysians and North Koreans can visit each other's country without visas.