Tag: Malaysia

The North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur is filled with an air of silence on Feb. 16, 2017, following the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half brother Kim Jong-nam. Kim was killed allegedly by North Korean agents at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13. (Yonhap)

I figured that the real North Korean agents would have fled the country immediately after Kim Jong-nam was killed; they are all probably safely back in North Korea by now:

Malaysia’s police are looking for four more North Korean suspects who they say left the country the same day the North Korean leader’s brother died after being attacked at the Kuala Lumpur airport.

Deputy national police chief Noor Rashid Ibrahim identified all four at a news conference on Sunday. He also identified a fifth person of interest and showed photographs of two more North Koreans who were not identified by name but are also wanted in connection with Kim Jong Nam’s apparent assassination on Monday.  [Stars & Stripes]

Here are the names of the four suspects, so if anyone happens to run in them please let Police Chief Ibrahim know:

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Noor Rashid Ibrahim said the suspects, all North Koreans, left the country on Monday Feb 13, the day of Jong-nam’s murder.

“We can confirm that the four left the country on the same day of the attack.

“We are cooperating with Interpol and other relevant bodies in the region,” he told a press conference in Bukit Aman on Sunday.

The press conference is the first that the police have conducted since Jong-nam was assassinated.

The four wanted suspects are:

1. Rhi Ji Hyon, 33, arrived in Malaysia Feb 4, 2017

2. Hong Song Hac, 34, arrived Jan 31, 2017

3. O Jong Gil, 55, arrived Feb 7, 2017

4. Ri Jae Nam, 57, arrived Feb 1, 2017    [The Star]

Of interest is that according to The Star article the North Korean man that they did arrest has a background in chemistry which means they must think he is the guy that put the poison together.  It seems like if he did why didn’t he leave the country with the other four agents?

She may be quiet, but it appears Siti Aisyah is no longer innocent:

For those who have met Siti Aisyah, the notion that the 25-year-old woman from Serang, Banten, might have been capable of allegedly taking part in a vicious plot to murder a high-profile figure in a foreign country is hard to swallow.

Siti, who is believed to have been arrested in Malaysia for her alleged role in the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, has been described by her neighbours and relatives as a “quiet and innocent” girl.

Siti once lived in a house located in a small alley in the densely populated quarters of Tambora district, West Jakarta. There she resided with her former husband Gunawan Hasyim and former father-in-law Liang Kiong, known as Akiong.

To her neighbours, Siti is just one of millions of Indonesians looking for job opportunities in neighbouring Malaysia.

 “She rarely mingled with others. [But] I’m sure that it is her. I recognise her from the picture and I had seen her often back then,” said one of the neighbours named Anisa Fitri as quoted by Antara news agency. “She is a quiet and innocent person from the region,” she added.

Halimah, another neighbor who has lived in Tambora since 1969, was stunned by the news, saying that “[Siti] is poor; it’s a pity that she has been dragged into the case. She once lived next door to me before she moved [to her then father-in-law’s house],” she said.  [The Star]

You can read more about her at the link.

It looks like Malaysian authorities may have caught one of the North Korean operatives behind the assassination of Kim Jong-nam:

One of the four men sought by police over the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam has been detained.

It is learnt that the suspect was arrested after police raided a condominium in Jalan Kuchai Lama at about 11pm on Friday.

The 47-year-old suspect was found to be holding a North Korean passport at the time of arrest.

Three more men are being hunted by police in the investigation into Jong-nam’s murder.  [The Star]

It is going to be very interesting to see what they find out from this man.  You would think the Kim regime would have had a better escape plan for their operatives if this man is indeed linked to the crime.

UPDATE #1:

Malaysian authorities have identified the North Korean man they arrested as 46-year old, Ri Jong-chol:

Malaysian police said on Saturday they had arrested a North Korean man in connection with the murder of the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, as a diplomatic spat over his body escalated.

Kim Jong Nam died this week after being assaulted at Kuala Lumpur International Airport with what was thought to be a fast-acting poison. South Korean and U.S. officials have said he was assassinated by North Korean agents.

Malaysian police said the latest arrest connected with the murder was made on Friday night, and the suspect was identified as Ri Jong Chol, born on May 6, 1970. He was in possession of a Malaysian i-Kad, which is an identification card given to foreign workers, they added.

“He is suspected to be involved in the death of a North Korean male,” read a statement.  [Reuters]

Here is the latest in the murder of Kim Jong-nam:

They wiped the deadly liquid on his face, darted into the bathroom to wash their hands and then left the scene.

That is how two women detained in investigations into the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam have described their actions at KLIA2 on Monday morning. It has since become one of the most high-profile murders to have occurred in Malaysia.

The women – Indonesian Siti Aisyah and another holding a Vietnamese passport under the name of Doan Thi Huong – led a police team to the airport at about 1am yesterday to re-enact Monday’s attack on Jong-nam.

It is learnt that the two suspects led the police team to Level 3 of the departure hall and told police what happened.

Both women described their actions of wiping a type of liquid on the face a man who they claimed they did not know.

“They claimed they left the area once it was done,” said sources, adding that the women then went to a nearby restroom to wash off the liquid.

It was unclear whether the women wore gloves or even used a piece of cloth to carry out the attack.

Siti Aisyah also told police that she was offered US$100 (RM445) by a man to carry out the act, which she believed to be a prank on a man.

The man who paid her and three others – all foreign men – were seen on CCTV footage at the airport with Siti Aisyah and Thi Huong.

It is learnt that the hunt for the four men, believed to be the “brains” behind the attack on Jong-nam, is still ongoing.  [The Star]

It seems to me that if these two women knew they had just committed a murder they would not have took the time to wash their hands, they would have just gotten out of the airport as quickly as possible.  It seems to me their claim of being duped into the killing may have validity.

Back in South Korea there has been a lot of speculation of why North Korea would use to foreigners to kill Kim Jong-nam:

If the Indonesian suspect was, in fact, involved in the assassination, it adds another question to the web of mysteries surrounding Kim’s death: why did Pyongyang hire foreigners?

A North Korean defector in South Korea who has knowledge of the communist regime’s intelligence tactics told the JoongAng Ilbo that a North Korean couldn’t have been able to pull off the job because they have so much reverence to the Kim dynasty, a result of ceaseless indoctrination from the North Korean leadership. That reverence extends to Kim Jong-nam, even though he was passed over as heir apparent and lived in self-exile outside North Korea.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

I don’t believe this claim; I think it has more to do with plausible deniability for the North Koreans.  If the Malaysian authorities don’t catch the four operatives that put these two women up to the assassination then there is no evidence to connect North Korea to the crime.  So anyone wanting to put additional sanctions or add them back to the State Sponsors of Terrorism List would not be able to.

If these women are in fact North Korean agents you would think they would have had a better get away plan because it seems they were both arrested fairly easily:

Malaysian police on Thursday arrested two more persons, including a second female suspect, over alleged involvement in the killing of the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, foreign reports said.Police detained a 25-year-old woman who was holding an Indonesian passport bearing the name of Siti Aishah in connection with Kim Jong-nam’s death, according to a Malaysian police statement. A third male suspect, the Malaysian friend of the female detainee, was also taken into custody, the Associated Press reported.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

UPDATE #1:

As it turns out at least the 2nd women arrested is not a North Korean, but is a confirmed Indonesian national:

One of the female suspects had Vietnamese travel documents and was picked up Wednesday at the budget terminal of the airport, the same place where the attack took place. The other woman held an Indonesian passport and was arrested early Thursday.

Indonesian diplomats met with that suspect and confirmed she is an Indonesian citizen, officials said. Authorities identified her as Siti Aisyah, 25, originally from Serang in Banten, a province that neighbors the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.

Indonesian Immigration Office spokesman Agung Sampurno said officials from the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur met with the woman in Selangor state, where she is being held, and ensured she is in safe condition.  [Associated Press]

It makes me wonder if these women were some how duped into carrying out the act by the actual North Korean agents who have not been arrested yet?

UPDATE #2:

It is looking like the two women involved in the attack are not North Korean agents, but instead women from the area recruited by North Korean agents who may not have been aware of what they were doing:

The suspect, who wore a white sweater with LOL printed on it in large letters, was captured on camera shortly afterwards waiting for a taxi at the exit.

Malaysian police said the woman has confessed to killing Kim with another Vietnamese woman and four men with North Korean passports. A search for the others is under way.

Reports said the six suspects all fled the scene and converged at a hotel just a 15-minute drive from the airport. The men apparently watched from a restaurant on the airport’s shopping concourse as the two women attacked Kim.

The woman who was arrested told police that all the other suspects fled and she was the only one left behind at the hotel.

Malaysian police conducted a post-mortem on Wednesday. Local reports said the toxin used was “stronger than cyanide.” The North Korean ambassador to Malaysia and other embassy staff watched the autopsy.

The South Korean government identified Jong-nam’s body on Monday. “He had foam in his mouth, which is a characteristic sign of poisoning,” a government official here said.

The suspect told police that she came to Malaysia to travel with the other woman and was approached by the four men, who told them to play a joke on Kim by spraying a liquid on his face, according to a local newspaper report. [Chosun Ilbo]

This explanation seems plausible to me considering how easily both women were arrested compared to the four men who still have not been arrested.  Pretty smart by the possible North Korean agents because using the women gives the Kim regime plausible deniability of not being behind the assassination.

More details are coming out about the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the older brother of North Korean strongman Kim Jong-un.  Most significant is the fact that Malaysian authorities arrested an Asian woman believed to have been involved in the attack carrying a Vietnamese passport:

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half brother was murdered with poison in Malaysia, multiple sources including South Korea’s spy agency said Wednesday, with the local police tracking down two women and four men who may be implicated in the crime.Kim Jong-nam, 46, was at the airport to take a flight to Macao when he asked the staff for help after interacting with two “Asian” women. Kim died on the way to a nearby hospital.

The Malaysian authorities presume Kim was poisoned, although the details must be revealed through an autopsy.

Local law enforcement authorities have been narrowing down suspects based on security camera footage, with one of the six — an unidentified woman — getting arrested at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The arrested woman, born in 1988, held a Vietnamese passport with the name “Doan Thi Huong.”

“Suspect was positively identified from the CCTV footage at the airport and was alone at the time of arrest,” the Malaysian police said in a release. “Investigation continues and any further actions against suspect/suspects will be taken in accordance with the law.”  [Yonhap]

Past assassins also traveled using passports from other countries so this standard operating procedure for the North Koreans.  Here is something really strange about the arrest, the woman returned to the airport for some reason and was arrested:

Cameras caught one of the suspected assassins who was wearing a white long-sleeved T-shirt and short skirt with a cross-body bag. She looked like an ordinary tourist seemingly waiting for someone.

The two women were initially believed to be North Korean agents. But the Malaysian police detained one of them at the airport Wednesday morning and said she was holding a Vietnamese passport with the name of Doan Thi Huong born in 1988.

She was the one caught on camera and was alone when detained, according to local police. The woman allegedly fled right after the killing and went to a hotel. Police are investigating why she came back to the crime scene two days later; adding that they are looking for another woman and four men allegedly linked to the murder. They are also confirming whether she is really Vietnamese with diplomats from North Korea and Vietnam.  [Korea Times]

It will be interesting to see if the Malaysian authorities give the ROK intelligence services access to this woman for questioning.  Here is how the assassination allegedly was committed:

The Star, a Malaysian media outlet, cited a senior police officer in saying that agents “splashed his face with a chemical” in the airport’s departure hall at around 9 a.m. Monday “just before he was to take a flight to Macau.”

Kim Jong-nam was said to have arrived in Malaysia from Macau on Feb. 6.

“He told the receptionist at the departure hall that someone had grabbed his face from behind and splashed some liquid on him,” said Fadzil Ahmad, a senior assistant commissioner who serves as chief of the Selangor Criminal Investigation Department.

“He asked for help and was immediately sent to the airport’s clinic,” Ahmad continued, “At this point, he was experiencing a headache and was on the verge of passing out.”

The officer said Kim Jong-nam went through a “mild seizure” and that he was put into an ambulance and was being taken to the Putrajaya Hospital when he was pronounced dead.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

The attack happened while Kim Jong-nam was at a self check-in kiosk:

By the way the reason he was in Malaysia in the first place was because he was allegedly having an affair with a woman there.

The apparent reason for the assassination is that Kim Jong-nam was allegedly considering defecting to South Korea:

Another local North Korean expert claimed that Kim Jong-nam was planning to come to South Korea last year but failed because the South Korean government worried about Pyongyang’s reaction. It’s possible that is one reason Kim Jong-un may have ordered spies to take him out.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

North Korea meanwhile is demanding that Malaysian authorities not conduct an autopsy and that the body be handed over immediately:

North Korean government officials in Malaysia objected to an autopsy being performed on the body of the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Malaysian government sources aware of the discussions said on Wednesday.

The officials requested that the body be released to them right away, but Malaysia rejected the request, several sources said.

No decision has been taken on whether the body of Kim Jong-nam will be handed over to North Korea, the sources added.

Malaysian police on Wednesday detained a woman holding Vietnam travel papers, and are looking for a “few” other foreign suspects in connection with the death in Kuala Lumpur of Kim Jong-nam, police said. [The Star – Malaysia]

Finally Kim Jong-nam’s kids are currently all living in either Macau or Beijing to include his oldest son Kim Han-sol who had previously spoke out against the Kim Jong-un regime:

Kim Jong-nam’s wife is currently staying in Beijing with a son, while his second wife is living in Macao with a son and a daughter. All of them are currently under the protection of Chinese authorities.

The son in Macao is Kim Han-sol, who came into the spotlight in 2012 after being interviewed by a Finnish television station. He said he hopes for the unification of the two divided Koreas and wants to improve the livelihoods of ordinary people living in the impoverished country now controlled by his young uncle.  [Yonhap]

I would think these kids especially Han-sol will have to keep a very low profile for their rest of their lives because it is pretty clear the Kim regime will kill them if given the opportunity.

It seems we can’t go more than a few months without a missing Malaysian linked airplane making headlines:

South Korea’s foreign ministry said Sunday that at least three South Koreans were on board an AirAsia plane that went missing en route from Indonesia to Singapore.

The ministry said that a South Korean man and a woman in their 30s, and an infant were among the 162 passengers and crew members on AirAsia’s flight QZ8501 that lost contact with Jakarta’s air traffic control after takeoff early Sunday.

The foreign ministry said it convened an emergency meeting to address the issue, saying that it will monitor progress in the search operations for the missing plane.

“The Seoul government plans to closely watch related authorities’ search operations and will study various options, including the dispatch of a response team,” Lee Jeong-gwan, ambassador for overseas Koreans and consular affairs, said at the opening of the meeting. [Yonhap]

AirAsia’s majority ownership is from a Malaysian company which the industry considers as having a very good safety record.