South Korea accuses North Korea of Kim Jong Nam assassination

Since Kim’s death last week, authorities have been trying to piece together details of what appeared to be an assassination.

The four people in custody, including Ri and two women each holding Vietnamese and Indonesian passports, have been under investigation, Malaysian police said.

This would enable Malaysian police to alert authorities in neighbouring countries to watch for them and detain them.

Of these, four North Koreans have been named: Ri Ji Hyon, 33; Hong Song Hac, 34; O Jong Gil, 55; and Ri Jae Nam, 57. When asked whether Malaysian authorities thought Kim’s death had been ordered by the North Korean regime, he said only that “the four hold North Korean nationality, that is all”.

He said that one was North Korean, but that police had not yet identified the other two.

The Mail further reported that Kim Jong-nam had shrugged off safety warnings to travel to Malaysia, where he met his untimely fate. He died before reaching the hospital.

Noor Rashid said Sunday that he expected autopsy results to be released within days.

Malaysian police said yesterday it would not release the body until it receives DNA samples from his next-of-kin. “If they don’t come forward, then we will have to look at the next option”, said Rashid without elaboration.

There are concerns, however, that the other suspects may have already returned to Pyongyang.

Two South-East Asian women believed to have been duped into poisoning Jong Nam with spray have been arrested over Monday’s assassination. Indonesia Police Chief Tito Karnavian told The Associated Press that the woman received payment to take part in a prank for the TV show Just For Laughs.

Police are still hunting four men believed to have been accomplices in Kim’s murder.

Kim Jong-nam had spoken out against his family’s dynastic control of North Korea. The Malaysians went ahead with the autopsy anyway, saying they were simply following procedure.

North Korea has said it would reject Malaysia’s autopsy report and accused Malaysia of “colluding with outside forces” – a veiled reference to rival South Korea.

North Korea has been seen as tightening control on its high-profile individuals overseas since the defection of Thae Yong Ho, a senior North Korean diplomat in London who arrived in South Korea past year.

“Considering that five suspects are North Korean nationals, we view that the North Korean government is behind the incident”, Seoul’s unification ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee said immediately after Sunday’s announcement.