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.jpg/8311942 "Kim Jong-nam")
Two women — an Indonesian and a Vietnamese — will be charged with murder over their alleged involvement in the killing of the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader at Kuala Lumpur's main airport, Malaysia's Attorney-General says.
Key points:
- The women have been charged with an offence that carries the death penalty
- Police are also holding one North Korean man and have identified seven others wanted in connection with the case
- Malaysia is considering expelling North Korea's envoy or shutting its embassy in Pyongyang
Police said the women smeared VX nerve agent, a chemical on a UN list of weapons of mass destruction, on Kim Jong-nam's face in an assault recorded on airport security cameras on February 13.
US and South Korean officials believe Mr Kim was the victim of an assassination orchestrated by North Korea.
He had criticised the regime of his family and his half-brother Kim Jong-un in the past, and had been living in exile under Beijing's protection in the Chinese territory of Macau.
While Malaysian police arrested Doan Thi Huong and Siti Aishah in the days after the attack, they are also holding one North Korean man and have identified seven other North Koreans wanted in connection with the case.
Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali said the North Korean in custody would not be charged yet — his remand period ends on Friday.
The security camera footage, which has been released in the media, showed two women assaulting Mr Kim in the departure hall of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and the victim stumbling into a medical clinic. He died within 20 minutes of the assault.
Both women told diplomats from their countries they had been paid to take part in what they believed was a prank for a reality TV show.
The Attorney-General said the women would be formally charged on Wednesday under section 302 of the penal code, which carries the death penalty.
"I can confirm that," he wrote in a text message.
Growing international fallout
What is VX gas?
- A highly toxic and rapidly acting chemical warfare agent developed in the UK in the 1950s
- The most potent of all nerve agents, it is much more potent than the well-known sarin but works in a similar way
- Symptoms appear within seconds of exposure to the vapour or after exposure to the liquid form
- A large dose of VX may result in convulsions, loss of consciousness, paralysis and respiratory failure possibly leading to death
- It is possible that any visible VX liquid contact on the skin, unless washed off immediately, would be lethal
- Only one person has ever been officially confirmed as having died from VX. If confirmed, Jong-nam would be the second
Malaysia is considering expelling North Korea's envoy or shutting its embassy in Pyongyang as tensions escalate over the killing.
South Korean's National Intelligence Service (NIS) believes suspects wanted for the murder of Mr Kim includes several agents who worked for North Korea's foreign and security ministries, according to politicians in Seoul.
The NIS also said on Monday five senior officials of the State Security Ministry, the North Korean "bowibu" or secret police, were executed with anti-aircraft guns for "insubordination". It did not say when.
It is unclear if the execution of the security ministry officials was related to the assassination of Mr Kim.
Earlier this month, North Korea dismissed the head of the bowibu.
A high-profile defector said if this was true it would be another sign of a "crack in the elite" in Pyongyang.
Reuters
Topics: murder-and-manslaughter, law-crime-and-justice, world-politics, malaysia, korea-democratic-people-s-republic-of, vietnam, asia, indonesia, pacific
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