A North Korean embassy official met with four murder suspects shortly after the killing of Kim Jong Un's half-brother, a court has heard.

Two women are on trial accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam by throwing VX nerve gas into his face at Kuala Lumpur Airport on 13 February.

Malaysian prosecutors say the attack was orchestrated by four North Korean men who were spotted on CCTV speaking to the women before later fleeing the country.

Image: Hong Song Hak

Image: Ri Ji Hyon

Within an hour of the murder, the men were seen meeting a North Korean embassy official and a manager from the country's national airline, lead detective Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz told the trial.

He said the Air Koryo manager organised tickets for three of the suspects to travel on the same flight to the Indonesian capital Jakarta.


The embassy official and airline worker were questioned by police but only said "they were there to assist every North Korean individual or citizen who boarded a flight to leave the country", Mr Wan Azirul said.

The four suspects - Ri Jae Nam, Hong Song Hak, Ri Ji Hyon and O Jong Gil - travelled to Malaysia on different days in the week leading up to the murder, the court heard.

Image: O Jong Gil

Image: Ri Jae Nam

Prosecutors say O Jong Gil was seen checking in at an airport hotel two days before the attack and did not leave the airport until three hours after the killing.

Malaysian police believe the four men are in Pyongyang and requested Interpol to issue a red notice for their arrest in March.

The two female suspects - Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong - claim they were tricked into believing they were taking part in a prank TV show that involved wiping lotion on the faces of unsuspecting people.

Both face the death penalty if they are convicted.

Image: Kim Jong Un inherited his family's dynasty after half-brother Kim Jong Nam was exiled

Malaysian officials have not formally accused Pyongyang of involvement, but North Korea has denied accusations by US and South Korean officials that it was behind the killing.

Kim Jong Nam had been heir apparent to his father's dictatorship in the 1990s, but was exiled after being caught trying to enter Disneyland in Japan.

While in Macau, he criticised his family's dynastic rule of North Korea.