A Strange North Korean Assassination

[Peter Lemkin]

I can't vouch for the information now being reported by UPI - as they give no or very vague sources. I have been following the story of the assassination of the half-brother of the current head of N. Korea and wondering why he was assassinated - as he has been out of the country a long time. If any of this holds up, this starts to give some motive. I'm also interested to know what poison can be [by various descriptions] briefly held before one's face on a handkerchief, causing him to die within less than 15 minutes....

Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Kim Jong Nam may have played a significant role in the North Korean regime despite his status as an exile, according to a South Korean press report.
North Korean officials may also have been trying to persuade the older half-brother of Kim Jong Un to return to North Korea before his sudden death in Malaysia on Monday.

A source on North Korea told Yonhap news agency on Thursday, local time, the older Kim was in charge of managing the North Korean leader's inheritance money from his base in Macau.
Kim also oversaw a slush fund that belonged to Jang Song Thaek, the North Korean leader's uncle-in-law who was executed in December 2013.
According to Yonhap's source, Kim Jong Nam and his younger half-brother quarreled over the money prior to Kim's death, because the older Kim refused to return portions of the slush fund Kim Jong Un claimed as his own.
In the days leading up to the assassination, North Korea diplomats approached Kim Jong Nam in compliance with direct orders from Kim Jong Un, and urged the older Kim to repatriate to Pyongyang, according to a North Korean official who spoke to Radio Free Asia on the condition of anonymity.
"Kim Jong Un's order was for [Kim Jong Nam] to return home without causing a disturbance," the source said.
North Korean officials may have met with the older Kim on Jan. 20 in Macau, according to the report.
Kim Jong Un was concerned his half-brother would attempt to seek asylum in South Korea or the United States.
The alleged poisoning of Kim Jong Nam at a Kuala Lumpur airport is not the first time agents have attempted the assassination of Kim Jong Il's oldest son.
Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported on Thursday, local time, agents tried to kill Kim in Beijing in 2012.

[Peter Lemkin]

Kim Jong-nam killing: two more held as details emerge of airport attack

Suspects detained in Malaysia after death of North Korean leader's half-brother in attack that reportedly lasted five seconds

Justin McCurry in Tokyo, Oliver Holmes in Kuala Lumpur and agencies
Thursday 16 February 2017 12.58 GMTFirst published on Thursday 16 February 201705.43 GMT

Two more suspects have been detained in connection with the death of the North Korean dictator's estranged half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, as further details emerged of his final moments in Kuala Lumpur airport.

A female suspect identified from CCTV footage at the airport and a Malaysian man thought by police to be her boyfriend were arrested on Thursday.
The Malaysian inspector general said the female suspect had been identified as Siti Aishah, an Indonesian national. Her birthday was given as 11 February 1992, and place of birth as Serang, Indonesia. Indonesian diplomats confirmed she is a citizen after meeting with her, news agencies reported.
On Wednesday police arrested a 28-year-old woman, whose Vietnamese passport bore the name Doan Thi Huong, althout it was not clear if the document is genuine.
She too had been positively identified from CCTV footage and was alone at the time of her arrest, the inspector general said. Still photos from the video, confirmed as authentic by police, showed a woman in a skirt and long-sleeved white T-shirt with "LOL" emblazoned on it.
Malaysian police have reportedly been granted permission to remand both women in custody for seven days.

Kim died after apparently being killed with a fast-acting poison as he prepared to board a flight to his home in Macau on Monday morning. The attack on Kim, who suddenly fell ill at the airport and died on the way to hospital, was over in seconds, Malaysian newspaper the New Strait Times (NST) reported on Thursday.
Citing CCTV footage, the paper said Kim was standing in a small crowd near a self check-in counter when one of the alleged attackers stood in front of him to distract him, while another locked him in a chokehold and administered the substance that appears to have killed him.
According to the paper, CCTV appeared to show the suspect who poisoned Kim walking briskly towards a taxi stand wearing a dark-coloured glove on her left hand. When footage picked her up again at the stand, the glove had gone.
Kim was taken to an airport clinic after seeking help for a headache at an information counter, nurses at the airport said. Footage showed Kim with his eyes shut, grimacing in pain at the clinic, NST said.

Kim Jong-nam at a restaurant in Macau in 2010. Photograph: Yonhap/AAPAn autopsy was completed late on Wednesday, but the results have not been released.
Police said they were seeking "a few" other suspects in connection with the killing, but declined to say how many were being sought, or their nationalities.
The death has set off a torrent of speculation over whether Kim Jong-un dispatched a hit squad to kill his estranged older sibling, possibly as retribution for criticisms his elder brother made against his leadership in interviews with the Japanese journalist Yoji Gomi in 2012.
It has also focused attention on the apparent lengths to which North Koreawill go to ensure the regime's stability.
According to Malaysian media reports, North Korean officials spent hours trying to persuade Malaysia not to conduct an autopsy and for Kim's body to be handed over to Pyongyang.

Malaysia refused the request, since North Korea did not submit a formal protest, according to Abdul Samah Mat, a senior Malaysian police official. Authorities did however confirm that the body was that of Kim Jong-nam and would be taken toNorth Korea after the autopsy.
While Pyongyang has made no official comment on Kim's death, it has not attempted to conceal its interest in his fate. On Wednesday, it sent a black Jaguar car with diplomatic number plates and flags to the mortuary at the Kuala Lumpur hospital where the autopsy was conducted.

The car used by the North Korean ambassador to Malaysia leaves the forensics department of a Kuala Lumpur hospital on Wednesday. Photograph: Vincent Thian/APKim Jong-un's five-year rule of North Korea has been marked by purges and executions of people perceived as a threat to his leadership.

The highest-profile victim was his uncle, Jang Song-thaek, who was executed on treason charges in late 2013. Jang, once considered his nephew's most trusted adviser, was also believed to have been close to Kim Jong-nam, whom he had helped raise.
Kim Jong-nam attempted to lead an unremarkable life with his family in Macau, according to exchanges with Gomi.
"Because I was educated in the west, I was able to enjoy freedom from an early age and I still love being free," he told Gomi, whose book on Kim was published in 2012. "The reason I visit Macau so often is because it's the most free and liberal place near China, where my family lives."
Kim Byung-kee, a South Korean MP, said intelligence services had told him Kim Jong-un professed to "hate" his half-brother, whom he feared could one day play a role in overthrowing his regime.
The spy agency has also made unverified claims that North Korea had spent five years attempting to kill Kim Jong-nam.
It cited an attempt in 2012 after Kim Jong-nam described his sibling as "just a nominal figure", and lambasted the country's hereditary transfer of power as a "joke to the outside world".
"The Kim Jong-un regime will not last long," he told Gomi. "Without reforms, North Korea will collapse, and when such changes take place, the regime will collapse."

Kim Jong-il (front left) poses with Kim Jong-nam (front right) and other relatives in Pyongyang in August 1981. Photograph: Choongang Monthly Magazine/APHe is reported to have written to Kim Jong-un after the 2012 assassination attempt in which he pleaded with his brother to assure his safety and that of his family.
The letter said: "I hope you cancel the order for the punishment of me and my family. We have nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, and we know that the only way to escape is committing suicide."
Kim Jong-nam may have succeeded his father, Kim Jong-il, had he not embarrassed the regime in May 2001 with an attempt to enter Japan on a faked Dominican Republic passport.
Kim, accompanied by his wife, another woman believed to be a nanny, and his four-year-old son, were attempting to visit Tokyo Disneyland. They were sent back to North Korea via Beijing, but the incident appeared to end any hopes Kim had of succeeding his father.

[Peter Lemkin]

THE murdered half-brother of despot Kim Jong-un uttered the words "very painful, very painful" after he was sprayed with poison by assassins, reports claim.
Kim-Jong-nam staggered around 15m to a service counter for help after he was targeted by a hit squad in a five-second attack at Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia.
GETTY IMAGES
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Kim Jong-nam is believed to have been attacked by two women and sprayed with poison before collapsing at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on MondaySKY NEWS
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Police arrested an Indonesian woman and her boyfriend today over the alleged poison plotENTERPRISE NEWS AND PICTURES
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One of the women arrested over the assassination of Kim Jong-un's playboy half-brother has reportedly claimed she thought she was "playing a prank"He had a pained expression on his face as he told the workers "very painful, very painful, I was sprayed with liquid", police sources told China Press.
Jong-nam, 46, then groaned before collapsing and being taken to hospital where he later died, according to reports.
His chilling last words emerged as it was sensationally claimed one of the assassins accused of slaying Jong-nam was a man dressed in drag.
Three people, including Siti Aisyah, 25, from Indonesia, and her Malaysian boyfriend have been arrested over the poison plot.
CCTV suggests a cross-dressing killer may have held Jong-nam from behind before he was sprayed with either ricin or deadly puffer fish toxins.

[Peter Lemkin]

Kim Jong-nam killing: North Korean man arrested as second autopsy peformed




Malaysia police arrest Ri Jong Chol, the fourth suspect in attack on Kim Jong-un's half-brother
[URL="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/18/kim-jong-nam-killing-north-korean-man-arrested-as-second-autopsy-peformed#img-1"]

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and half-brother Kim Jong-nam. A fourth suspect has been arrested in connection with the killing of Kim Jong-nam. Photograph: Wong Maye-E, Shizuo Kambayashi/AP

Saturday 18 February 2017 05.04 GMT

Malaysian police said on Saturday they had arrested a North Korean man in connection with the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The man was identified as Ri Jong Chol, born in 1970. He was arrested on Friday night in Selangor state, the police said in a statement. He is the fourth suspect to be arrested in the investigations surrounding the murder in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
Authorities are investigating whether Indonesian woman Siti Aisyah and another female suspect killed the 46-year-old North Korean exile in a shopping concourseat the international airport.
On Friday night, Malaysia performed a second autopsy on the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader because the first procedure was inconclusive.
The second autopsy clearly enraged North Korea, which has vowed to reject the results of any procedure and demanded that Malaysia turn over the body immediately. Speaking to reporters outside the morgue late on Friday, Pyongyang's ambassador said Malaysian officials may be "trying to conceal something" and "colluding with hostile forces".
Kim Jong Nam, who was 45 or 46 and had lived in exile for years, suddenly fell ill at the Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday as he waited for a flight home to Macau. Dizzy and in pain, he told medical workers at the airport he had been sprayed with a chemical. He died while being taken to a hospital.
Suspect Siti Aisyah, 25, 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. Indonesia's national police chief, Tito Karnavian, told reporters in Indonesia's Aceh province 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 have 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.
Malaysia is one of just a handful of countries to have full diplomatic ties with North Korea, with each country having an embassy in the other's capital. Malaysia has also been a key place for quiet, semi-official "track two" diplomatic talks between North Korea and the US.
Malaysia said on Friday it wanted DNA samples from Kim Jong-nam's family as part of the autopsy procedure and that officials were not yet willing to hand the body to the North Koreans. Although Kim Jong-nam is believed to have two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau, police in Malaysia say none has come forward to claim the body or provide DNA samples.
"If there is no claim by next-of-kin and upon exhausting all avenues [to obtain DNA], we will finally then hand over the body to the [North Korean] embassy," said Abdul Samah Mat, a senior Malaysian police official. He would not say how long that process might take.
Kim Jong-nam was estranged from his younger half-brother, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. He reportedly fell out of favour with their father, the late Kim Jong-il, in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

[Peter Lemkin]

A few more people have been identified as involved, but all flew out of Malasia immediately after the assassination and are on the loose...apparently back in N. Korea. Also, there is now a VERY HEAVY armed presence around the coroner's building to prevent the illegal and forced removal of the body. Officials are waiting for sophisticated toxicological tests on the poison[s] used....they take quite a while to do properly. However, from the quick action and symptoms it was likely ricin and/or shellfish toxin.

[Peter Lemkin]

Oh, my....My toxicology teacher would have lowered my grade [I got an A+ in Toxicology] if they knew I didn't also consider VX. It is the most potent nerve agent ever invented and is lethal in amounts that can fit on the head of a pin [smaller, actually]. It is banned Worldwide by treaty and only the US and USSR ever admitted having made it [and said to have destroyed it]. Syria is suspected of having some. A very large sized bottle of it if evenly sprayed over a small nation would kill everyone in about 15-45 minutes...and most of the animals too - certainly all mammals. There is only two known antidotes and the death is a horrible one. It is NOT easy to make and is very difficult to store without danger to those making and storing it. If N. Korea has a lot of it, it is IMHO more dangerous than their having a few nukes. That guy is as crazy as his bad haircut!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VX_(nerve_agent)

Oliver Holmes and agencies
Friday 24 February 2017 04.33 GMT [Guardian]

Malaysian police have said the substance used in the killing of Kim Jong-nam was a "VX nerve agent", a highly toxic liquid used only in chemical warfare.
Malaysia's inspector general, Khalid Abu Bakar, later added that one of the two women suspected of the poisoning also suffered its effects. "She was vomiting," he said without elaborating.
The findings follow a preliminary analysis of swabs taken of the face and eyes of the victim, who is the half-brother of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. More items are still being analysed.





The substance also known as ethyl N-2-Diisopropylaminoethyl Methylphosphonothiolate is classified by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction.

Kim Jong-nam died on 13 February from a seizure on his way to hospital after complaining that a woman had sprayed chemicals on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport. Leaked CCTV footage show a woman grabbing his face. Malaysian police had said earlier two attackers rubbed a liquid on Kim Jong-nam before walking away and quickly washing their hands.
Asked about the possibility that North Korean agents may have imported the world's most toxic nerve agent and deployed it in an international airport, a source close to the Malaysia government commented: "Not very diplomatic".
Khalid said authorities were determining how VX entered the country and that the terminal where Kim Jong-nam was killed, in a budget airline departure lounge, will be decontaminated. As a weapon, VX does not quickly dissipate and can remain on material or the ground for long periods.
An employee at Malaysia Airports Holdings, the company that manages the airport, told the Guardian it had not closed the terminal or been contacted by police about a decontamination since the attack 11 days ago.
China, which afforded a level of protection to Kim Jong-nam during his stays there and in Macau, has yet to comment on the finding and Chinese academics were reluctant to comment on what is a highly a sensitive political issue. "It is not convenient to make any comment," said Wang Junsheng, a North Korea expert from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The US government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes VX as the most potent of all nerve agents and one that would be lethal on contact with the skin unless it was immediately washed off. Its only known use is in chemical warfare, it says.
The agency says exposure to a large dose of VX may result in convulsions, loss of consciousness, paralysis and fatal respiratory failure. Kim Jong-nam is reported to have complained of pain in his face shortly after the attack. A leaked photo at the medical centre shows him laid back on a chair with his eyes closed.

VX is a clear, colourless liquid with the consistency of engine oil. A fraction of a drop, absorbed through the skin, is enough to fatally disrupt the nervous system,according to the Council on Foreign Relations. It was developed in the 1950s in the UK during research into pesticides but was later found to be too toxic to be used safely.
Saddam Hussein was accused of using VX during the Iran-Iraq War and there are concerns that stockpiles also exist in Syria. Only the US and Russia have said they possess VX or a similar agent.
Analysis North Korea's use of nerve agent in murder sends a deliberate signal to foes





North Korea is thought to have among the world's largest stockpiles of chemical weapons, and is one of six countries not to have signed or acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), according to the US non-profit organisation the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
South Korea believes the North is able to produce most types of chemical weapons and Pyongyang is thought to be concentrating upon sulphur mustard, chlorine, phosgene, sarin and the V-agents, of which VX is one. Defectors have accused North Korea of testing its chemical agents on people.
Malaysian police said its Centre for Chemical Weapons was still analysing other items related to Kim Jong-nam, who lived most of his life outside his home country.
Raymond Zilinskas, who directs the chemical and biological nonproliferation program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California, said it seemed unlikely the killers applied VX directly.
"Even if they or her were wearing gloves, the fumes would have killed them," he said. He suggested the assassins may have used a "binary concoction", smearing two non-fatal elements of VX which mix on the victims face to form deadly VX.
He added that as North Korea does not belong to the Chemical Weapons Convention, Malaysia may ask the UN secretary general to investigate the matter.
"Whether North Korea would allow UN inspectors to enter the country is of course a big question. But the matter certainly could be taken up by UN security council and/or general assembly."

Kim Jong-nam's death: what we know so farFour people of different nationalities have been arrested and seven North Koreans are wanted in connection with the attack. Malaysian police have not directly pinpointed North Korea as being behind the death.

The Malaysia Star said police had seized "various chemicals" at an apartment in Kuala Lumpur overnight on Thursday. The report, which could not be independently verified, said a Malaysian man who led police there might be linked to suspects already being held.
On Thursday, North Korea accused Malaysia of having a "sinister purpose" and collaborating with South Korea over the killing. In the first report from state-run KCNA news agency since the attack, the government accused Malaysia of breaking international law by conducting autopsies on a diplomatic passport holder and withholding the body.
"This proves that the Malaysian side is going to politicise the transfer of the body in utter disregard of international law and morality and thus attain a sinister purpose," it said.
According to people who knew him, Kim Jong-nam spent his last few years highly paranoid, hiding from the regime run by his dictator half-brother while struggling with a sense of powerlessness over the fate of his homeland.
The killing has led to a diplomatic face-off between Malaysia and North Korea and refocused attention on Pyongyang, one of the world's most isolated regimes with nuclear capabilities.
Nerve agents cause their toxic effects by preventing the proper operation of an enzyme that acts as the body's "off switch" for glands and muscles. Without that switch, the glands and muscles are constantly being stimulated, and eventually tire and become unable to sustain breathing.