Malaysian police say that they have arrested another male suspect in connection to the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged brother of Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, and this time the suspect is North Korean.
Speaking to the press, Malaysian authorities announced their arrest of 46-year-old Ri Jong Chol, a citizen of North Korea.
Jong Nam was murdered at Kuala Lumpur’s main airport earlier this week when he was attacked by two women who sprayed him with poison. Two women who were arrested shortly thereafter told authorities they’d been tricked into spraying Jong Nam by some mysterious men, and thought they were doing a prank for a TV show.
Video surveillance images of the terminal where Jong Nam was attacked show some men watching events from a nearby airport restaurant.
North Korea has attempted to block the investigation of the murder by demanding that Malaysia release Jong Nam’s cadver and seeking to stop an autopsy from being conducted. But Malaysian authorities went ahead with the autopsy, citing that it was simply following procedure.
The North Korean ambassador to Malaysia, Kang Chol, has since issued a threat. He stated that North Korea would “strongly respond to this act by the Malaysia side and also the hostile forces towards the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] and we will sue [sic] this matter to the international court.”
“The Malaysian side forced the post-mortem without our permission and witnessing,” he said. “We will categorically reject the result of the post mortem …”
The ambassador further insinuated that the Malaysian government was “colluding with outside forces who are interested in damaging the image of our republic” by refusing to release his body.
The Malaysian government is currently rejecting the demands, and responded by requesting a family DNA sample — which has yet to be obtained — from Jong Nam’s immediate family. Jong Nam is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women in Beijing and Macau.
South Korean observers believe that Kim Jong Un may have ordered Jong Nam’s killing to further solidify his position. Since taking power in 2011, the dictator executed or removed dozens of high-ranking officials, including close relatives, from their positions.
Should the government refuse to release Jong Nam’s corpse, it may jeopardize the relationship between the two countries. Malaysia is one of the only nations in the world to have a “normal” relationship with the reclusive communist dictatorship, with visa-free travel. It has served as a neutral ground for countries without official diplomatic ties, including the United States, to speak with North Korean officials.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken media critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.
