A post mortem will be carried out later on the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un, as investigators search for clues about the assassination.

South Korea's spy agency says that Kim Jong-Nam was poisoned by two suspected North Korean female agents at Kuala Lumpur's international airport on Monday.

Kim, 45, was murdered on his way between the Malaysian capital and the Chinese territory of Macau, where he had been living under Chinese protection.

The women used poisoned needles to kill him and immediately fled the scene in a taxi, according to the South Korean broadcaster TV Chosun, citing Seoul government sources.

But a Malaysian official claimed he had been sprayed with a liquid in a shopping area and, complaining of pain, he tried to get help at an information counter before being taken to the airport clinic.


Police were searching for clues in the closed circuit television footage from the airport, Malaysian officials said.

South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, said: "If the murder of Kim Jong-Nam was confirmed to be committed by the North Korean regime, that would clearly depict the brutality and inhumanity of the Kim Jong-Un regime."

Kim Jong-Nam is the son of Song Hye-Rim, a South Korean-born actress who is believed to have been a mistress of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.

He advocated reform in North Korea and was vocal about his opposition to the nation's dynastic succession policy.

Understood to be Kim Jong-Il's heir apparent as his eldest son, he reportedly fell out of favour when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false Dominican Republic passport in 2001, saying he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Abdul Samah Mat, the police chief of Malaysia's Selangor state, said: "A post mortem on the North Korean man will be done today (Wednesday)."

He would not confirm when the results of the post mortem will be released.

A police statement later confirmed the death of Kim Chol, born in Pyongyang. North Korea experts have said this was the name Kim Jong-Nam travelled under.