And leverage – with Kim murder in Malaysia

Malaysian authorities on Thursday arrested two more suspects in the apparent assassination of North Korean leader’s Kim Jong-un’s half brother.

Because it is so reclusive, intelligence on North Korea is very thin and the North Korean regime is likely to balk at the prospect of Malaysia – and potentially other intelligence services – having DNA information that could be used for other purposes. Several arrests have been made in connection to the murder, including that of two females – one with an Indonesian passport and another with Vietnamese documents.

Others said North Korean agents in the past were drilled with ideological indoctrination.

After he was sprayed with the poison, he was taken to the medical clinic inside the airport terminal and put in an ambulance, but he died on his way to hospital. On Feb. 15, the local police announced that “the crime seems to have been elaborately planned”.

However, although the autopsy has now been completed – despite protests from North Korean diplomats based in Kuala Lumpur, who wanted to body released to them immediately – there is still no word on the cause of death. The Police did not give further details as to where she was held but said she was identified from CCTV footage and at the time of her arrest, she was all alone.

“But when the regime revealed the execution of Jang Song-thaek and tried to boost its legitimacy through statements from all ranks and classes, it backfired and the people questioned how (Kim Jong-un) killed his own uncle”. But a former sushi chef of Kim Jong Il said the late leader derided the middle son, known as a huge fan of rock guitarist Eric Clapton, as “girlish”.

Malaysia’s deputy prime minister said that Malaysia plans to return his body at Pyongyang’s request, although there are “procedures to be followed”, according to AFP.

Malaysian police say the chubby 45-year-old was jumped by two women who squirted some kind of liquid in his face.

The two countries opened embassies in each other’s capital cities in 2003, and Malaysians are now allowed to travel to North Korea without a visa.

People reportedly gathered at Kim Jong-il’s statue in Pyongyang all day long to pay respects to the former leader, who was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-un. He also didn’t want to be filmed or named because he was afraid of being linked to Mr Kim. Each stand was supplied by a different organisation or individual, ranging from the North’s central bank – whose stand featured a red map of a unified Korea, decked out in lights – to an 11-year-old schoolboy.

The Kim family dynasty has ruled North Korea for three generations since its founding after World War II. “The great leader general Kim Jong-Il was born in a secret camp on Mount Paektu”, she said – a volcano straddling the Chinese-Korean border seen as the spiritual birthplace of the Korean nation.

“He said he saw the reality of the country’s situation on that trip, and that was when he started expressing views that contradicted those of his father”, said Gomi, a senior staff writer at the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper who published a book about Kim Jong-nam in 2012.