North Korea’s ‘gruesome’ airport murder of Kim Jong-un’s brother was meant to ‘horrify the world,’ new report says
RUTHLESS Kim Jong-un assassinated his half-brother in the most “gruesome” and public way possible to “horrify the world” and terrify his rivals, it's claimed.
The brazen and brutal assassination of Kim Jong-nam in February, in Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur airport, was a crime which shocked and baffled the world.
Now a Korea University professor investigating the assassination - with links to South Korea's intelligence agency - has told on it was all “part of a masterplan.”
“From the moment Jong-nam left Macau, the North Koreans tailed him,”claimed Professor Nam Sung-wook.
“They had a group on his airplane. As soon as he arrived at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, another group followed him.
"They kept that surveillance up while he slept. Even as Jong-nam entered the terminal, he was shadowed.”
Several reports claimed the assassination attempt was sloppy work by North Korean spooks.
The women attackers were clearly visible on CCTV walking up to Kim and smearing the banned VX nerve agent into his face.
The North Korean agents accused of coordinating the attack never hid their faces either.
However Professor Nam said people shouldn’t put this down to bad planning on Kim Jong-un’s part.
“Pyongyang wanted to send a worldwide message by murdering Kim Jong-nam in this gruesome, public way,” he said.
“Pyongyang wanted to horrify the rest of the world by releasing a chemical weapon at an airport.
“Jong-un wants to reign a long time and negotiate as a superpower. The only way to do that is to keep the world in fear of his weapons. He has a grand design, and this is part of it."
Two women, identified as Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong, are the only two people in custody and are charged in Kim Jong-nam's death.
Both worked as escorts and claim they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank for a television show. They face the death penalty if convicted.
It's claimed the dictator's half-brother was looking to defect just days before he was assassinated.
Kim Jong-nam told friends he wanted to start a new life in Switzerland by becoming a European citizen amid growing fears for his personal safety.
He reportedly said he wanted to move to Switzerland, where he spent his childhood at an International School to hark back to a time when he had “nothing to be afraid of.”
The murder is widely believed to have been ordered by the North Korean government.
Malaysian police said four North Korean suspects fled the country on the day of the murder.
They initially arrested Ri Jong Choi, a North Korean citizen, as a suspect in the murder.
He was later deported after the attorney general said there was insufficient evidence to charge him.
Pyongyang has denied any involvement in the killing.
The former heir-apparent’s death led to a diplomatic dispute between Malaysia and North Korea – there is widespread suspicion Pyongyang is responsible for the murder.
The return of Jong-nam’s body was part of a deal to end a bitter row between the two nations, with the Malaysian Prime Minister announcing the deal included nine Malaysians being allowed to fly out of North Korea and return home.
The playboy half-brother of tyrant Kim Jong-un was killed with VX, one of the world’s deadliest chemical weapons, according to Malaysian police.
He was smothered by the super-toxic nerve agent as he was walking through Kuala Lumpur Airport .
The two women charged with his murder reportedly believed they were taking part in a prank for TV.
The female suspects told police they were duped into the killing by “friends” who told them it was just a harmless prank for a reality show.
Jong-nam collapsed and died on the way to hospital.
They now claim they were unwitting pawns in an assassination that US officials and South Korean intelligence have said was organised by North Korean agents.
Jong-nam 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.
Siti Aishah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, were presented in court by the Malaysian police on Wednesday, where charges were read out against them.
They face the death penalty if convicted.
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