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World|politics|February 15, 2017 / 12:53 PM
Two women suspected of poisoning Kim Jong Un's brother hunted by police

AKIPRESS.COM - Malaysian police believe that two Asian women suspected in the murder of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s half-brother are still in the country, according to a South Korean lawmaker who was briefed by intelligence officers, Bloomberg reported.

The women approached Kim Jong Nam in Kuala Lumpur’s international airport on Monday and later fled in a taxi, Lee Cheol-woo, chairman of the intelligence committee in South Korea’s parliament, told reporters on Wednesday after meeting the nation’s intelligence chief. South Korean officials believe he was poisoned with either a needle or a spray, Lee said.

Abdul Samah Mat, the police chief of Selangor state which takes in the airport, said an autopsy is underway at Kuala Lumpur Hospital. He declined to give further details, including whether the suspects are still at large.

The murder has triggered questions about the stability of Kim’s regime as he accelerates plans to build nuclear weapons that threaten the U.S., South Korea and Japan. South Korean analysts and government officials have speculated that Kim was behind the killing of his half-brother, a critic of his leadership who lived outside the country for years.

South Korea believes the deceased man was Kim Jong Nam based on closed-circuit television footage and the photo on his North Korean passport, Lee said. Malaysian authorities released a statement identifying him as Kim Chol, 46, who was born in Pyongyang.

Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of former dictator Kim Jong Il, fell out of favor with his father after he was caught trying to enter Japan using a fake Dominican Republic passport in 2001, according to Japanese reporter Yoji Gomi, who wrote a book about him. Kim Jong Nam had been critical of Kim Jong Un, reportedly saying in 2012 that he “won’t last long” because of his youth and inexperience. The two brothers have different mothers.

Kim Jong Un has had a “standing order” to kill Kim Jong Nam since he took power in 2011, Lee said. There was a previous attempt to kill him in 2012, according to Lee. He added that China had been protecting Kim Jong Nam, who has family members in Beijing and Macau, without saying how he knew that was the case.

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