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:
The second female suspect arrested for the assassination of Kim Jong-un’s half brother Kim Jong-nam, in a yellow shirt and blue pants, is led to a police car Thursday afternoon to be taken to a local police station in Malaysia. [Joong Ang Ilbo]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.
This undated Yonhap file photo shows Sung Hae-rim, the mother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half brother Kim Jong-nam, who was assassinated allegedly by two North Korean female agents at a Kuala Lumpur airport in Malaysia on Feb. 13, 2017. Born in South Korea in 1937, Sung went to North Korea during the Korean War. Kim is a love child between Sung and the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the father of Kim Jong-un. Sung had lived alone at a sanatorium in Moscow since 1974 and died in May 2002. (Yonhap)
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:
Malaysian police on Wednesday released CCTV footage of a woman who is suspected to be one of at least two agents who assassinated Kim Jong-nam, half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. [YONHAP]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:
Kim Jong-nam was attacked by two women, believed to be North Korean agents. One grabbed him from behind and the other sprayed a liquid chemical on his face, according to Malaysian police. / Yonhap
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.
Kim Jong-un was finally able to kill his older brother and he had his agents resort to using poison needles again. Long time readers may remember that the Kim regime tried to kill ROK Drop favorite Park Sang-hak with a poison needle as well:
Kim Jong-nam
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother has been killed in Malaysia, a government source said Tuesday.
Kim Jong-nam was assassinated on Monday in Malaysia, the source said without revealing details.
Cable TV broadcaster TV Chosun reported that Kim was killed at an airport in Malaysia after being attacked by two unidentified female agents with “poisoned needles.” The suspects fled the scene and Malaysian police suspected North Korea was behind the killing.
If confirmed, Kim’s case would mark the most high-profile death under the Kim Jong-un regime since the execution of Jang Song-thaek in December 2013, the once-powerful uncle of the current leader.
Kim Jong-nam is the eldest son of late former leader Kim Jong-il and is living in a foreign country without holding any official title. He was born from his father’s nonmarital relationship with Sung Hae-rim, a South Korean-born actress who died in Moscow. [Yonhap]
For those that don’t know it has long been believed that Kim Jong-nam was China’s preferred back up plan if the North Korean regime was to collapse. With Kim Jong-nam now dead the only Kim’s left to rule North Korea are Kim Jong-nam’s other brother Kim Jong-chul who is considered too lady like to rule the country and his sister Kim Yo-jong is female and thus not a threat either. Plus both of them are part of his close inner circle where he can closely watch them.
That left Kim Jong-nam as a possible threat for someone looking to replace Kim Jong-un with another Kim and he is now gone. The only other possible replacement to Kim Jong-un that is not under his control is Kim Jong-nam’s son, Kim Han-sol who has been living in Europe. I would imagine he is some deep hiding right now after seeing his father executed because he could be next.
This is a pretty significant development because a solid fuel missile on a mobile launcher would allow the North Koreans to launch with little to no indications or warning against targets in Japan with this missile:
In this photo taken on Feb. 12, 2017, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (R) observes the test-firing of a Pukguksong-2 missile through binoculars. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
South Korea’s military said Monday that North Korea appears to have employed technologies used in submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) to develop a new type of intermediate-range rocket, citing its analysis of a launch test carried out by Pyongyang a day earlier.
“North Korean leader Kim Jong-un likely ordered the task of developing a surface-to-surface Pukguksong-2 missile based on the successful SLBM test carried out in August. We have reached an assessment that the North is in the process of developing a ballistic missile with a greatly extended strike range,” an official from Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.
Pyongyang called the new missile Pukguksong-2. The SLBM launched in August carried the name Pukguksong-1, a name which translates as the “North Star.”
The remark came after the JCS initially identified the type of missile fired from Bangyon air base in the western province of North Pyongan Province at 7:55 a.m. as a medium-range Rodong or modified Rodong, and then changed their assessment to a modified Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).
The missile reached a height of 550 kilometers after being fired at a high angle and flew about 500 km before splashing down into the East Sea.
As the launch was conducted in a “lofted” style, it put the missile into a high trajectory rather than a lower one that would allow it to fly much farther. [Yonhap]
This photo shows a satellite image seen on Google Earth of the Banghyon air base in North Korea’s North Pyongyan Province from which Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile presumed to be a medium-range Rodong or a modified version of it on Feb. 12, 2017. (Yonhap)
I think it is more than coincidence that the Kim regime decided to interfere with President Trump’s and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s golf game this weekend by firing off this missile:
This photo first released on Jan. 24, 2017, by North Korea’s state-run news organization, KCNA, shows a Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile being test-fired from a launcher in North Korea on June 22, 2016. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)
Pyongyang fired a missile into waters off its eastern coast Sunday morning, the first test-firing by North Korea this year and since U.S. President Donald Trump took office, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Launched from Banghyon Air Base in North Pyongyan Province at 7:55 a.m., the missile reached an altitude of about 550 kilometers (342 miles) and flew 500 kilometers before splashing into the East Sea, both figures which indicate that it wasn’t an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), said an official from the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
It appears that the missile was a Rodong medium-range class meant to target Japan, according to another South Korean military source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
The Rodong or Nodong missile is a missile developed primarily to target Japan which is further evidence that the Trump-Abe meeting this week is why they fired the missile when they did. With that said it is important to keep things in perspective. The Nodong is a missile they have fired plenty of times in the past and this test firing was on a known test trajectory that safely impacted in the Sea of Japan. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was North Korea test firing this missile most people would not care.
Here is how President Trump and Prime Minister Abe responded during a hastily called news conference at Trump’s golf club:
United States President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have condemned North Korea’s latest missile launch.
United States President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have condemned North Korea’s latest missile launch.
Trump and Abe issued their statements on the North’s surprise ballistic missile launch on Sunday during an unscheduled joint news conference in Florida.
Abe said that North Korea’s most recent missile launch is absolutely intolerable, urging the North to fully comply with relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Trump said that he wants everybody to understand and fully know that the United States stands behind its great ally Japan 100 percent. [KBS World]
Here is how the ROK has responded:
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) denounced North Korea for its latest ballistic missile launch.
Following North Korea’s missile launch Sunday morning, the JCS issued a statement, calling the military action a “grave threat to peace and safety of South Korea and the international community.”
The JCS warned that the Kim Jong-un regime will only see its collapse unless it wakes up from the delusion of nuclear and missile provocations.
The JCS said the missile launch is unacceptable and the military is prepared to immediately respond to any North Korean provocation.
The South Korean military stressed that the missile launch came in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. [KBS World]
I think the response was handled well by everyone because on the scale of North Korean provocations this is very low and people should not over react to it in my opinion which so far no one is appearing to do.
