Two women arrested over the killing of the North Korean leader’s half-brother in Kuala Lumpur knew they were taking part in a poison attack, Malaysia’s police chief said Wednesday, after reports they believed it was a prank, said AFP.
The news agency said, the Malaysian police said ‘yes’ to a question by a reporter whether the two women knew they were carrying a toxic substance when they approached Kim Jong-Nam, the sibling of Kim Jong-Un.
The police said the Vietnamese suspect Doan Thi Huong, 28, and Indonesian Siti Aishah, 25, had been trained to swab the man’s face, practising the exercise in Kuala Lumpur for the attack at the airport.
The Malaysian police assertion is contrary to what the Indonesian police had said regarding one of the suspects.
Indonesian newspapers said the Indonesian national had been duped into believing she was taking part in a TV prank show.
The Malaysian police told reporters the video shows “the lady was moving away with her hands towards the bathroom. She was very aware that it was toxic and that she needed to wash her hands.”
On the other hand, the Malaysian police said it is also looking for a North Korean diplomat.
Malaysian investigators want to question a North Korean diplomat over the assassination of Kim Jong-Un’s half-brother in Kuala Lumpur, national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said Wednesday.
Police have put five North Koreans in the frame for last week’s killing of Kim Jong-Nam at the city’s international airport and have said they are seeking three more for questioning.
Among the wanted are the second secretary at Pyongyang’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur and a North Korean airline employee.
The Malaysian police said they have written to the ambassador to allow us to interview both of them. We hope that the Korean embassy will cooperate with us and allow us to interview them quickly.
“If not, we will compel them to come to us,” the Worldfuturetv.com said in its Facebook post quoting the AFP.
The police believed five North Koreans were “heavily involved” in the murder.
Four of the men fled the country on the day of the killing while one remains in custody in Malaysia.