North Korean leader’s half-brother ‘killed in Malaysia’ – sources

The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been killed in Malaysia, South Korean and Malaysian sources say.

Kim Jong-nam, 45, is said to have been targeted at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, the capital.

A source close to the Malaysian PM’s office told the BBC that Mr Kim was killed in the city, saying his body was now undergoing an autopsy.

Kim Jong-nam is the eldest son of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Senior Malaysian police have confirmed that a North Korean man died in transit to hospital from the airport on Monday. They have not confirmed his identity.

Both South Korean state news agency Yonhap and Reuters news agency are reporting Mr Kim’s death based on South Korean government sources.

According to a report from TV Chosun, a cable television network in South Korea, Mr Kim was poisoned at the airport by two women, believed to be North Korean operatives. These details have not been confirmed elsewhere.

Bypassed for succession

In 2001, Mr Kim was caught trying to enter Japan using a false passport. He told officials that he was planning to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Once seen as a likely successor to Kim Jong-il, he was thought to have fallen out of favour with his father over the incident.

Bypassed in favour of his youngest half-brother for succession, Kim Jong-nam kept a low profile, spending most of his time overseas, mainly in Macau.

He was quoted by Japanese media in 2011 as saying he opposed “dynastic succession”.

He was also quoted in a 2012 book as saying that he believed his younger half-brother lacked leadership qualities, the succession would not work, and that North Korea was unstable and needed Chinese-style economic reform.

He has reportedly been targeted for assassination in the past. A North Korean spy jailed by South Korea in 2012 was reported to have admitted trying to organise a hit-and-run accident targeting Kim Jong-nam.

BBC