The brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un has been killed in Malaysia. According to some reports, Kim Jong-nam was poisoned by two women, possibly agents sent by Pyongyang.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
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The 46-year-old North Korean man sought medical assistance at a Kuala Lumpur airport and died en route to hospital, Malaysian police said. According to the authorities, he was traveling under the name of Kim Chol.
South Korean media, however, reported that the victim was Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Malaysian officials have confirmed his identitiy. He was apparently killed by two unidentified women who then fled in a hailed cab, according to South Korean TV Chosun. The Reuters news agency reported that the women were believed to be North Korean operatives.
North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un has ruled since 2011Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J.Press/M. Matsutani
A Malaysian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Kim Jong-nam was sprayed with a liquid in the shopping concourse, contrary to earlier reports that the women used poisonous needles.
In a separate statement, Malaysian police representative Fadzil Ahmat said that the cause of the death was still unknown.
"The deceased ... felt like someone grabbed or held his face from behind," Fadzil said. "He felt dizzy, so he asked for help," at an airline counter.
An estranged sibling
Kim Jong-Nam was once tipped to rule the countryImage: AFP/Getty Images
Kim Jong-nam was estranged from his younger sibling and lived in exile, mainly in the Chinese territory Macau. At one point considered the heir to his father Kim Jong-il, the elder Kim lost favor after a 2001 escapade to visit Tokyo Disneyland resulted in his capture at a Japanese airport for traveling on a fake passport.
A South Korean media report has claimed a top Pyongyang nuclear envoy was killed — but he turned up on TV days later. It would not have been the first killing from the top, but it turned out to be another false report.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Living in the crosshairs
High-profile defector Hwang Jang Yop survived numerous assassination attempts before dying of natural causes at the age of 87. Hwang, who had been one of the leading ideologues of the North's isolationist regime, escaped to South Korea in 1997. Just months before his death in 2010, Seoul authorities arrested two North Korean military officers over one of many plots to kill him.
Image: AP
Uncle not 'fed to the dogs'
The execution of Kim Jong Un's uncle Jang Song Thaek, once the second most powerful man in the isolated country, sent shock waves beyond North Korea's borders. Many media outlets wrongly reported that he was fed to hungry dogs, as punishment for his "betrayal" of the ruling family. In reality, he was shot, according to Pyongyang officials and South Korean intelligence.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Rumors of brutality
In 2015, Seoul's security services reported that North Korean Defense Minister Hyon Yong Chol was executed by an anti-aircraft gun. However, National Intelligence Service (NIS) soon appeared to backtrack from the report, saying that Hyon might still be alive. Reports of other brutal executions, involving artillery shells and flamethrowers, have also been difficult to confirm.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Poisoned needle
North Korean defector and well-known dissident Park Sang Hak was also targeted by a Pyongyang-linked hitman. In 2011, South Korean authorities arrested a former North Korean commando over the plot to assassinate Park with a poison-tipped needle.
Image: AFP/Getty Images
Removing a rival?
The estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un was reportedly poisoned by two women at a Kuala Lumpur airport. While details remained sketchy, it was widely believed the killers were sent by the North Korean regime. The 46-year-old Kim Jong Nam had been living abroad after falling from grace in 2001 for visiting Disneyland in Tokyo.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
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A parody Twitter account spoofing the hermetically-sealed Democratic People's Republic of Korea managed to put a satirical spin on the report of Kim Jong-Nam's death.
