Malaysian police on Wednesday named a senior official at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur in connection with the killing of Kim Jong-un’s estranged half-brother.
Royal Malaysia Police Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar said the embassy official, identified as Hyon Kwang Song, holds the title of second secretary.
According to Malaysian Police, two women approached Kim Jong-nam and wiped a toxin on his face.
A Malaysia-based employee of the North Korea’s state-owned airline Koryo was also named a person of interest, NBC News reported.
Abu Bakar said both the suspects were believed to be still in Malaysia and arrest warrants would be issued against them if the embassy doesn’t make them available.
Malaysian Police is also looking five other North Korean nationals, four them have believed to be return to Pyongyang.
“We would request the North Korean authorities to assist us in tracing them and hand them over to us,” Abu Bakar said.
Malaysian Police had not identified the body, and noted that travel documents listed the name of Kim Chol.
“Everybody is saying he’s Kim Jong Nam; surely we need DNA to prove he is Kim Jong Nam,” Abu Bakar said.
He added thet police would ask North Korean officials to provide a family member of Kim Jong-nam , who could identify the body and provide a DNA sample.
Kim Jong-nam, eldest son of Kim Jong-il, went into hiding in Malaysia after the execution in December 2013 of his uncle, Jang Song-thaek.
He had spoken out publicly against his family’s dynastic control in the North Korea.
In 2011, he had survived an assassination attempt in Macao.
