'Female assassin' who 'poisoned North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half-brother' seen wearing 'LOL' T-shirt at airport
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This CCTV image allegedly shows an assassin accused of killing the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un wearing a top with the words 'LOL' printed across it.
The picture emerges after local media reported that the two female assassins believed to be behind the playboy's death may already be dead.
In the grainy image the woman appears to be middle-aged and of Asian descent.
She can be seen wearing a top with the word 'LOL' - the acronym for 'Laughing Out Loud' - in large letters and a blue short skirt, with her right hand over a slim sling handbag.
Kim Jong Nam was waiting for a flight to Macau when he fell ill at Kuala Lumpur International Airport's low-cost terminal, known as KLIA 2 on Monday.
He was believed to be poisoned by two women who are allegedly North Korean operatives.
(Photo: Twitter)
(Photo: YTN)
"There have been reports that (the two suspects) may already be dead," Japan Kyodo News said, citing a ranking official of the Japanese government.
The official, however, did not specify the cause of their assumed death, be it homicide or suicide.
North Korean special agents have in the past attempted suicide after their missions.
Convicted bomber of a South Korean airplane Kim Hyun Hee attempted suicide after his act led to the deaths of 115 passengers in 1987.
(Photo: AFP)
(Photo: REUTERS)
The women are presumed to be North Korean undercover agents on a mission to eliminate the estranged half-brother of President Kim.
Following initial reports the poison was delivered by needles, it has now been reported in Malaysia that the weapon used was a cloth soaked in liquid.
"He told the receptionist at the departure hall that someone had grabbed his face from behind and splashed some liquid on him," Selangor state's criminal investigation chief Fadzil Ahmat said.
"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," he said.
"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."
(Photo: AFP)
(Photo: REUTERS)
CCTV images are reported to show a suspect in the audacious poisoning of Jong Nam.
They show a woman with short, dark hair, in a white long-sleeved top and holding a bag.
A statement by Malaysian police has said his travel documents named him as "Kim Chol" with an age of 46.
Mr Ahmat said that the cause of Kim's death had not been determined yet, but that a post mortem would be carried out on the body.
"So far there are no suspects, but we have started investigations and are looking at a few possibilities to get leads," Fadzil told Reuters.
Jong Nam was known to be based mostly outside of his home country and had spoken out publicly against his family's dynastic control of the isolated state.
(Photo: AFP)
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."
"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.