Malaysian police on Wednesday named a North Korean diplomat along with a state airline official who are wanted for questioning over the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader.
Kim Jong Nam, 46, was killed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13, while preparing to board a flight to Macau, where he lived in exile with his family under the protection of Beijing, reports Reuters.
South Korean and U.S. officials believe the killing of the elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was an assassination carried out by agents of the North.
Kim Jong Nam had spoken out publicly against his family’s dynastic control of the isolated, nuclear-armed state.
Giving an update on an investigation that has already angered North Korea, Malaysia’s police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the diplomat wanted for questioning was 44-year-old Hyon Kwang Song, a second secretary at the embassy.
Police also want to interview Kim Uk Il, 37, an employee of the North Korean state-owned airline Air Koryo.
Khalid said both were in Malaysia but could not confirm they were in the embassy.
“They’ve been called in for assistance. We hope the embassy will cooperate with us and allow us to interview them quickly or else we will compel them to come to us,” Khalid told reporters.
“We can’t confirm that they are hiding in the embassy,” he told Reuters.
So far, police have identified a total of eight North Koreans suspected of being linked to killing.
