Police arrest Vietnamese woman allegedly involved in Kim Jong-Nam's death

KUALA LUMPUR: The Vietnamese identified as one of the two women allegedly responsible for the death of a Korean who is believed to be Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, was arrested by police yesterday.
The woman was nabbed at the klia2 at about 9am by detectives on duty.
She was apparently staying at a hotel in Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi since the death of the Korean and it is being investigated why she had turned up at klia2 yesterday.
She is among six suspects comprising two women and four men who are being sought after by police.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, who confirmed the woman's arrest, identified her as Doan Thi Huong, aged 29 and from Nam Dinh, Vietnam.
He said the woman who possessed a Socialist Republic of Vietnam passport was positively identified from images retrieved from CCTV footage and was alone at the time of her arrest.
It is believed the woman who is being held by Sepang police will subsequently be handed over to federal police for further investigations.
Sources said during preliminary interrogation, the woman denied being involved in the case but told police that she had come to Malaysia with another female friend who sought her help for some unknown work.
Sources said images of the suspects, believed to be aged between 20 and 50, were captured by closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) at klia2 on Monday morning when the victim died in what is said to be an assassination.
Police have also detained a taxi driver who ferried the two women out of klia2 soon after the incident.
Sources said investigators learnt that the six suspects were spotted at klia2 and were seen communicating with each other soon after the victim was attacked.
Investigators observed that the two women took on the main role in the plot, where one was seen grabbing the victim by his neck from the back and covering his face with a cloth while the other sprayed an unknown liquid on his face.
Among the four male suspects, one was seen with a female suspect and observing the women's actions during the attack.
The remaining three male suspects, two wearing baseball caps, were apparently spotted moving in and out of a restaurant at the airport before they decided to sit together at the place for a drink.
The women left the airport quickly and the four male suspects were seen leaving separately.
Police have launched a hunt for the five suspects who they believe are still in the country and have alerted all exit points to be on the lookout.
Although it was initially thought that the victim had died of natural causes, investigators who had perused evidence and clues such as CCTV footage strongly believe his death was pre-meditated.
Police are almost certain the man is Jong-Nam but have declined to confirm this as it had to conform to formalities such as clinical evidence in substantiating the real identity of the victim whose passport identified him as Kim Chol, 46.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Noor Rashid Ibrahim told theSun the case currently remains as sudden death but it will be re-classified as murder if findings in the post mortem showed there was foul play in his death.
"It will all depend on the post-mortem report. It is not ready. We will wait for the outcome before deciding this. I cannot reveal more as it may jeopardise our investigations." he told theSun.
Noor Rashid confirmed a taxi driver was held and was interviewed by police but he appeared not to be involved in the alleged plot.
It is believed the cabbie had driven the women to Kuala Lumpur.
Noor Rashid added the victim who stayed in Kuala Lumpur was alone during the incident.
News worldwide reported that Jong Nam was killed in a high-level assassination plot when he was about to board a flight to Macau at klia2 on Monday.
The victim had apparently told airport staff that he felt sick after being sprayed with a liquid by unknown individuals moments earlier.
He was examined by a doctor at a clinic at klia2 and was referred to the Putrajaya Hospital for further treatment.
However, he died on the way to the hospital.
Immigration Department records apparently revealed that the victim had made regular trips to Malaysia over the past two years.
It is unknown why he came here but he is said to have travelled alone on each trip.
Jong-Nam was the eldest son of former leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kim Jong-Il and had prior to 2001 been considered the heir apparent to his father and the next leader of North Korea.
However, he had been a target of North Korean assassins since 2010 after a fallout with his father and his alleged wayward ways including his love for gambling and his criticism of his family's regime, advocating for reform of the state.
This drove a wedge into his relationship with his family forcing him to flee and live in exile with his two wives and three children in China.
Jong-Nam had lived in exile for over 14 years and is said to have travelled to a number of countries using a passport with a fake identity for his safety.