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South Korea’s Yonhap News reported that Kim Jong-nam, the leader’s half brother, had been assassinated in Malaysia.

Cable broadcaster TV Chosun said that he was attacked by two unidentified females at an airport in the country.

They were said to be wielding “poison needles” and, according to reports, fled the scene in the aftermath of the attack.

Police at Kuala Lumpur International Airport said that the victim was found feeling sick and was rushed to hospital, but died en-route.

(Image: GETTY)

Kim Jong-nam was the eldest son of former leader Kim Jong-il and was for a long time considered the likeliest to inherit power.

But he fell out of his father’s favour after attempting to visit Disneyland in Tokyo, Japan, with a fake passport in 2001.

He spent years living in the Chinese city of Macau and was said to be under the protection of the party in Beijing.

It was speculated that the 45-year-old was being groomed to take over should the Kim Jong-un regime fall.

Then he could implement Chinese-style market reforms in North Korea, making it less of a burden to its allies in Beijing.

Defectors from North Korea have often discussed having Kim Jong-un overthrown by a member of his own family, like ambassador Kim Pyong-il.

If confirmed, the killing would be the most high-profile death under the Kim Jong-un regime since the execution of Jang Song-thaek in December 2013.

The death would also follow a spate of purges among North Korea’s elite, most recently affecting gulag boss and Minister for State Security, Kim Won Hong.

In a statement, Malaysian police said the dead man, aged 46, held a passport under the name Kim Chol and was travelling under false documents.

Police official Fadzil Ahmat said the cause of Kim's death was not yet known, and a post mortem would be carried out on the body.

"So far there are no suspects, but we have started investigations and are looking at a few possibilities to get leads," Fadzil told Reuters.

According to Fadzil, Kim had been planning to travel to Macau on Monday when he fell ill at the low-cost terminal of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

"The deceased ... felt like someone grabbed or held his face from behind," Fadzil said. "He felt dizzy, so he asked for help at the ... counter of KLIA."

(Image: GETTY)

Reports suggest that Kim Jong-un even purged his own stepmother, Kim Ok, as well as overseeing a huge rise in public executions in North Korea.

Kim Jong-nam, like his brother, was educated in Switzerland – an experience which he says inspired him to push for reform in his homeland.

He told the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper in 2004: "I insisted on reform and market-opening and was eventually viewed with suspicion.

"[Father] felt I'd turn into a capitalist after living abroad for years, so shortened the overseas education of my brothers and sister."

(Image: GETTY)

The North Korean leader is known to have at least three other siblings – older brother Kim Jong-chul and his sisters, Kim Sul-song and Kim Yo-jong.

Kim Jong-chul, who visited London in 2015 to watch Eric Clapton play live, was reportedly passed over for the top job because he was not masculine enough.

While Kim Sul-song and Kim Yo-jong are said to be active in North Korea’s propaganda department, the latter being named its vice-director in 2015.

A source close to the Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, confirmed to the BBC that the man killed was Kim Jong-nam.