Malaysian police issue arrest warrant for Air Koryo employee who they say arrived in country two weeks before attack on Kim

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old



Malaysian police have issued an arrest warrant for an employee at North Korea’s state airline over the fatal poisoning of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of supreme leader Kim Jong-un.

Police had previously named Kim Uk-il, 37, who works for Air Koryo, as a person of interest who had been called in for assistance. He arrived in Malaysia about two weeks before the attack on Kim Jong-nam and is believed to have remained in the country.

“We have given him time to cooperate but he has not done so,” the national police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar, was quoted by the Star newspaper as saying. “Thus, the warrant was issued to compel him to cooperate.”

Kim Jong-nam killing: the arrested, the wanted, and people of interest Read more

Authorities have identified seven North Koreans they say are linked to the death of Kim Jong-nam, who was attacked with the nerve agent VX at Kuala Lumpur airport on 13 February.



Earlier on Friday, police released another North Korean man who had been held for questioning. Ri Jong-chol, 46, was detained on 17 February, four days after Kim Jong-nam died. He was released due to a lack of evidence but will be deported.

Much of the investigation has focused on two women – one from Vietnam and another from Indonesia – who are believed to be the two assailants captured on CCTV cameras grabbing Kim Jong-nam’s face.

Both women were charged with murder on Wednesday and face the death sentence if convicted but police reports suggest they did not mastermind the murder.

According to Jakarta’s deputy ambassador to Malaysia, Indonesian national Siti Aisyah was paid $90 (£72) for what she believed was a prank.

Apart from a Malaysian man who was later released, all the other people identified by police as linked to the killing are North Korean, which has led to a furious response from Pyongyang and a swift breakdown in diplomatic relations between the two Asian nations.

One of the people whom Malaysian police have “called in for assistance” is the second secretary at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia said on Thursday it was scrapping visa-free entry for North Koreans travelling to the country.

North Korean agents are widely speculated to have been behind the killing, particularly after Malaysia announced that the world’s most toxic nerve agent, VX, had killed him. Experts say the banned substance, classified as a chemical weapon, is likely to have been produced in sophisticated state laboratories.

North Korea’s official news agency said on Wednesday that the finding was the “height of absurdity”, saying the two women could not have used such a deadly toxin without killing themselves.

The isolated state sent a high-level North Korean delegation to Kuala Lumpur this week, seeking custody of the body. Its ambassador has also attempted to block the autopsy.

Pyongyang has not acknowledged that the deceased is a member of the ruling family.



