The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been assassinated in Malaysia, according to reports from South Korea. Kim Jong-nam was murdered at Kuala Lumpur airport after he was attacked by two female agents carrying "poisoned needles," according to reports.
The two women are believed to be agents from North Korea and managed to escape the scene in a taxi cab and continue to remain at large according to a report from TV Chosun. The death of the Kim Jong-nam was confirmed by Malaysian police.
The exact cause of his death has yet to be confirmed, but officials are currently awaiting the results of his autopsy. Police say Mr. Kim "felt like someone grabbed or held his face from behind." He suddenly felt dizzy and asked for some assistance at an information center in the airport. He was then taken to an airport clinic and later died in the ambulance while he was on his way to the hospital.
According to CNN, the death of Kim Jong Un's brother has not been publicized in North Korea nor will it ever be anytime soon due to political sensitivities in the highly secretive country. In a press briefing held on Wednesday, the chairman of South Korea's National Assembly Intelligence Committee, Lee Cheol Woo, believes Kim was poisoned. He did not elaborate how Kim was poisoned or the manner in which South Korea was able to obtain its information.
In a recent update, Malaysian police have arrested a woman who they believe is connected with the assassination of Kim. The woman was carrying Vietnamese travel documents which indicated that she was born in the city of Nam Dinh on May 31, 1988. She is currently being detained at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 in Malaysia.
According to The Independent, Mr. Kim went into hiding in Malaysia in 2013 following the execution of Jang Sung-thaek, his uncle who was once a powerful North Korean official. Jong-nam is the eldest son of the late Kim Jong-il and many believed he would be the successor to his father's rule, but has fallen out of favour with his family and has a strained relationship with his younger brother Kim Jong Un, the current leader of North Korea. He was known for spending a considerable amount of time outside of his home country and has spoken out publicly against his family's dynastic control over North Korea.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
