The Malaysian police on Saturday said a North Korean male national had been arrested in connection with the assassination of Pyongyang leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother, Reuters reported. A police statement said Ri Jong Chol was arrested in Selangor on Friday in connection with the “death of a North Korean male”.
This is the fourth arrest in connection with Kim Jong-nam’s assassination. By Thursday, authorities had arrested three suspects - an Indonesian woman, a Malaysian man and a woman with a Vietnamese passport - in connection with the case. Officials told BBC that they were on the lookout for at least three more suspects. South Korean and United States officials have said they suspect the involvement of Pyongyang in the assassination.
On Friday, Indonesia’s police chief said the Indonesian suspect was conned into believing that she was part of a popular prank show and sprayed the liquid, provided to her, on Kim Jong-nam and other people, AP reported.
Besides, Malaysian officials said they had conducted a second autopsy of Kim Jong-nam, after the first examination proved inconclusive, AP reported. Pyongyang’s ambassador said Malaysian officials may be “trying to conceal something” and “colluding with hostile forces” and demanded that the body be handed over to Pyongyang immediately. He said North Korea will reject the results of the examination.
Kim Jong-nam’s first autopsy report revealed that he died after being poisoned. Senior Malaysian government officials had said that Kim Jong-nam had told medical workers on his way to the hospital that he had been attacked with a chemical spray. Although North Korea had objected to the autopsy, Malaysia went ahead with the procedure because the former did not register a formal protest.
Malaysia had also agreed to hand over the body of Kim Jong-nam on North Korea’s request. “We will facilitate the request by any foreign government although there are procedures to be followed. Our policy is that we have to honour our bilateral relations with any foreign country,” Hamidi had told AFP.
Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of late dictator Kim Jong-il, had challenged his half brother’s succession to the top post. Officials said he had been trying to take over the isolated nation. He had been living in Macau under Chinese protection after a reported dispute with his father over his attempt to enter Japan with a fake passport, South Korea’s intelligence agency told its parliament.
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