Half-brother of Kim Jong-un assassinated in Malaysia
Kim Jong Nam reportedly poisoned at Kuala Lumpur airport by female North Korean operatives, S Korean media says.

The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been killed in Malaysia, the Yonhap News Agency and other South Korean media outlets reported on Tuesday, citing unidentified sources.

Yonhap, citing a South Korean government source, said Kim Jong Nam was killed on Monday morning in Malaysia. It gave no more details.

TV Chosun, a cable television network, said separately that Kim was poisoned at Kuala Lumpur airport by two women believed to be North Korean operatives, who were at large, citing multiple South Korean government sources.

Malaysian police told Reuters an unidentified North Korean man died en route to hospital from a Kuala Lumpur airport.

The police said the man's identity had not been verified.

 reds8n wrote:
Poison needles according to the reports I've glanced at.

 Witzkatz wrote:

 reds8n wrote:
Poison needles according to the reports I've glanced at.

I hope they'll to a proper autopsy on this...

 Skinnereal wrote:

 Witzkatz wrote:

 reds8n wrote:
Poison needles according to the reports I've glanced at.

I hope they'll to a proper autopsy on this...

Will the results be believed?

 Witzkatz wrote:

 reds8n wrote:
Poison needles according to the reports I've glanced at.

I guess that's the most straightforward and foolproof way to get the poison into a body. Now I'm even more interested in hearing what they used, because I don't think you'll be able to get high doses of anything into him with a simple needle "prick", and I can't imagine you have enough time to inject larger amounts of liquids through a hollow needle in time before a person instinctively jerks arm, leg or body away?

I hope they'll to a proper autopsy on this...

 Howard A Treesong wrote:

 Witzkatz wrote:

 reds8n wrote:
Poison needles according to the reports I've glanced at.

I guess that's the most straightforward and foolproof way to get the poison into a body. Now I'm even more interested in hearing what they used, because I don't think you'll be able to get high doses of anything into him with a simple needle "prick", and I can't imagine you have enough time to inject larger amounts of liquids through a hollow needle in time before a person instinctively jerks arm, leg or body away?

I hope they'll to a proper autopsy on this...

It's much easier than it sounds, high lethal doses can be microscopic, look up what happened to Georgi Markov.

Cheong Seong-chang, a longtime researcher on the Kim family, said that the killing of Kim Jong-nam could happen only with the order of Kim Jong-un. Mr. Cheong speculated that the North’s leader might have become angry over a recent South Korean news report that his half brother had once tried to defect to the South.

However, given his heritage, Jong-nam was viewed by some elderly North Korean elites as a kind of grandson figure.

These elites were close comrades of Kim Il-sung. They knew Jong-nam's personal history, his back story, and so he was treated with a special affection by some of the country's top heroes.

This affection and relationship could not necessarily form a basis of political support domestically, but it would have been helpful had Jong-nam ever put himself forward as a political rival to his half-brother.

Since Kim Jong-un assumed power in 2011, North Korea's state media have gone out of their way to show these revolutionary elders praising Jong-un.

At state events, Jong-un always makes a point of greeting these elders (and being photographed and filmed doing so).

This goes above and beyond merely paying respect to his elders and national heroes.

Instead, for propaganda purposes, Jong-un needs to be seen as having the blessing of North Korea's founding generation. More importantly, it conveys the message that the ruling elite at least appears unified in its support for the youthful leader.

[...]

Already, there are conflicting accounts about Jong-nam's purported demise. For all we know, he may have had a heart attack.

A more exotic poison might hopefully give some clues on the amount of preparation and power behind this...

 Freakazoitt wrote:

A more exotic poison might hopefully give some clues on the amount of preparation and power behind this...

Polonium poison?

 wuestenfux wrote:
Such people live dangerously. No surprise.
Kim is not leaving his country for this and other reasons.

 Freakazoitt wrote:

A more exotic poison might hopefully give some clues on the amount of preparation and power behind this...

Polonium poison?

A female Indonesian suspect and a Malaysian man thought to be her boyfriend were both detained on Thursday.

A woman travelling on a Vietnamese passport has also been detained. [...]

Malaysian Deputy PM Ahmad Zahid Hamidi formally confirmed on Thursday that the dead man, who was travelling under the name Kim Chol, was Kim Jong-nam, according to state news agency Bernama.

Kim is believed to have been attacked in the airport departure hall by two women, using some form of chemical.

Suspect in North Korea killing 'thought she was taking part in TV prank'
Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, duped and ‘not aware it was assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents’, says head of police

An Indonesian woman arrested for suspected involvement in the killing of the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un’s half-brother in Malaysia was duped into thinking she was part of a comedy show prank, Indonesia’s national police chief has said, citing information received from Malaysian authorities.

Tito Karnavian told reporters in Indonesia’s Aceh province that Siti Aisyah, 25, was paid to be involved in pranks.

He said she and another woman performed stunts which involved convincing men to close their eyes and then spraying them with water.

“Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong-nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer,” Karnavian said. “She was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents.”

Siti’s family has said they were shocked to hear of her involvement in the case, describing her as a struggling mother who had travelled to Malaysia for work. Her 26-year-old Malaysian boyfriend was also arrested by police late on Thursday. Police are hunting for other accomplices.

Authorities are investigating whether Siti and another female suspect killed the 46-year-old North Korean exile in a shopping concourse at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport on Monday.

Karnavian’s intervention, based on information that has not been independently verified, came as a diplomatic row developed between Malaysia and North Korea over the fate of Kim’s body, and as details emerged about the movements of the second female suspect detained over his apparent assassination.

Late on Friday, North Korea’s ambassador in Malaysia said that it would reject the results of a post mortem and demanded the body be released immediately.

“The Malaysian side forced the post mortem without our permission and witnessing, we will categorically reject the result of the post mortem conducted unilaterally excluding our attendance,” Kang Chol said in a statement.

Kang said that Malaysian police were being pressured by hostile forces, notably South Korea, and the autopsy was a violation of human rights.

Police in Kuala Lumpur said on Friday they would only abide by a North Korean request to hand over the body of Kim when it is claimed by a next of kin or DNA samples are provided.

The second female suspect, who was captured on CCTV at the airport in a top emblazoned with “LOL” and arrested on Wednesday in possession of a Vietnamese passport, stayed at a hotel near the airport in the days before the attack, booking the cheapest room and carrying a wad of cash, according to a receptionist who spoke to Reuters.

She moved accommodation twice. Employees at the second hotel said she borrowed a pair of scissors from the front desk the evening before the attack, and that a member of housekeeping staff found hair on the floor and in the bin the next day. She then checked into another hotel on Monday afternoon. It is not known what her subsequent movements were before her arrest.

Selangor state’s police chief, Abdul Samah Mat, said Kim’s body would not be released until the identity of the victim had been confirmed.

“We have only received the application from the North Korean embassy yesterday,” he told Reuters. “We need to collect DNA samples from the next-of-kin in order to get conclusive evidence on the victim’s identity.”

Diplomats from the North Korean embassy have shown a deep interest in the case, spending several hours at the mortuary on Wednesday and requesting custody of Kim’s body on the basis that he had a North Korean passport. North Korean officials reportedly objected to a postmortem, but Malaysian authorities went ahead with the procedure anyway because they had not received a formal complaint.

Police have told the Guardian that samples have been sent to a laboratory for a toxicology report, which could take several days.

North Korean media has made no reference to Kim’s death. People close to him say he was long targeted by his half-brother.

A school friend has told the Guardian that Kim – who reportedly divided his time between Macau, China and Singapore – feared for his life and was recently planning a trip to Europe. He added that people close to Kim had been trying unsuccessfully to reach the family, believed to be living in Macau.

Malaysia’s deputy prime minister, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, said on Thursday that Kim had been travelling under a pseudonym, Kim Chol.

“We have looked into the possibility that he travelled with a fake passport. I think he carried two different identities. Probably this is an undercover document.”

Hamidi said the body would be released to North Korea once “police and medical procedures” were completed. “The cause of death will be confirmed by the police, who will issue a statement,” he added.

Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world with normalised relations and visa-free travel into North Korea. In October 2016, several former US diplomats held talks with senior Pyongyang officials in Kuala Lumpur.

There is a small North Korean community living in the Malaysian capital although shops and restaurants owned by the expatriates have been closed this week.

Kim was once seen as heir apparent but was ostracised in 2001 after a failed attempt to enter Japan on a forged passport, apparently to visit Disneyland.

However, Yoji Gomi, a Japanese journalist and former friend, said he had already become disillusioned with the North Korean dictatorship in the early 1990s when “he saw the reality of the country’s situation”.

Kim had spent many years in Switzerland, Russia and later settled in Macau. South Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers in Seoul that Kim had received China’s protection.

 reds8n wrote:

Spoiler:

... about this fake news things ....

 cpt_fishcakes wrote:

Naw only Russia could be that stupid as to use something that once found out could be traced back to the plant it was enriched in. Its swings and round abouts, you learn from other peoples mistakes, and then make whole new mistakes.

 A Town Called Malus wrote:

 cpt_fishcakes wrote:

Naw only Russia could be that stupid as to use something that once found out could be traced back to the plant it was enriched in. Its swings and round abouts, you learn from other peoples mistakes, and then make whole new mistakes.

You assume that Russia didn't want people to know that it was involved. If that were the case they could have used any number of other methods.They used Polonium to send a message.

North Korea is estimated to have a chemical weapons production capability of up to 4,500 metric tons during a typical year and 12,000 tons during a period of extended crisis. It is widely reported to possess a large arsenal of chemical weapons, including mustard, phosgene and sarin gas, a United States Congressional Research Service report said last year.

 Witzkatz wrote:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/world/asia/kim-jong-nam-vx-nerve-agent-.html?_r=0

Evidence points toward an assassination with the VX nerve agent, which can be administered to the skin while still being lethal in a very short frame of time. It's actually classified as a chemical weapon of mass distruction by the UN, with very limited legal production for scientific purposes. It's an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, much like some standard medications used in hospitals, but with weapons-grade pharmacokinetics and -dynamics it seems - most medical stuff only works intravenously, this stuff just needs to seep through your skin in very small doses.

Death occurs primarily through failure of the breathing apparatus and the involved muscles, but with tons of other potentially lethal effects.

North Korea is estimated to have a chemical weapons production capability of up to 4,500 metric tons during a typical year and 12,000 tons during a period of extended crisis. It is widely reported to possess a large arsenal of chemical weapons, including mustard, phosgene and sarin gas, a United States Congressional Research Service report said last year.

The use of VX and this quote from the article seem to fit rather well. The Norks know their chem weapons.