In February, Kim Jong-nam, the brother of North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un, died under mysterious circumstances at a Malaysian airport. South Korea then accused the country’s dictatorship of orchestrating an assassination, and considering the nerve agent classified as a chemical weapon that was used against Jong-nam and subsequent arrests, it seems the exiled North Korean critic’s death may very well have been a murder. Despite the United States and others’ protestations, however, the troubled country’s leadership denied the charges levied against them.
Now it seems new video evidence presented in the captured suspects’ trial reveals a North Korean embassy official and a manager from the state airline met with the would-be assassins (and four other at-large suspects) not long after the incident occurred:
The four suspects, who were caught on airport camera talking to the women before they attacked Kim Jong Nam, were identified as North Koreans for the first time on Monday, a month since the trial began.
Three of them were seen meeting a North Korean embassy official and the Air Koryo official, both unidentified, at the main airport terminal within an hour of the attack, lead police investigator Wan Azirul Nizam Che Wan Aziz told the court.
Investigators speaking at the trial identified the North Korean men visible in the video footage — including the official and the airline manager — as Hong Song Hac, Ri Ji Hyon, Ri Jae Nam and O Jong Gil. When asked about the nature of the meeting depicted, however, the North Korean airline reportedly “explained that the reason they were there was to assist every North Korean individual or citizen who boarded a flight to leave the country.” Despite the mounting evidence, however, it seems North Korean officials are maintaining the government’s innocence.
(Via Reuters)