15 February,2017 08:08 AM IST | | Agencies
Two unidentified female agents allegedly killed the 45-year-old at an airport
Kim Jong Nam. Pic/AFP
Seoul: The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has been assassinated in Malaysia, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported yesterday.
The agency quoted a Seoul government source as saying Kim Jong-Nam was killed yesterday. The source gave no further details. Officials in Seoul were not immediately available for comment.
Two unidentified female agents poisoned the 45-year-old using poisoned needles at an airport in Kuala Lumpur, according to South Korean broadcaster TV Chosun. The report, citing what it called multiple government sources, said the two women hailed a cab and fled immediately afterwards.
Kim Jong-Nam was once considered heir apparent but fell out of favour with his father Kim Jong-Il following a botched attempt in 2001 to enter Japan on a forged passport and visit Disneyland. He has since lived in virtual exile, mainly in the Chinese territory of Macau. Kim Jong-Un took over as North Korean leader when his father died in December 2011. Kim Jong-Nam, known as an advocate of reform in the North, once told a Japanese newspaper that he opposed his country's dynastic power transfers.
