Press Digest - N. Korean diplomat in Malaysia could be pushed to committing suicide

PETALING JAYA: The editor of a Canada-based military magazine warns of the possibility of a North Korean diplomat in Malaysia committing suicide, saying this is what they would usually do when pushed to the wall.
"I'm referring to Hyon Kwang Song, a second secretary at the North Korean Embassy, whom Malaysian police are seeking (in their probe into the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's estranged brother, Kim Jong-Nam, at klia2 on Feb 13)," said Ping Kefu, editor of Kanwa Defence Review, which focuses on East Asian security, defence, diplomacy and weapons technology development issues.
"There is a high possibility that he might commit suicide," Ping was quoted by China Press in an interview published today.
He said North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau is responsible for assassinations and its agents carry with them poisons that they will use to commit suicide when they fail in their mission.
He said in socialist countries, assassinations carried out by secret agents are deemed as "protecting the country".
Of course, the assassins in Jong-Nam's killing, an act considered as "protecting the country" by their mastermind, will not die as they have the antidote, he said.
Ping pointed out that other airport personnel who came into contact with Jong-Nam after he was attacked are safe as the strength of the poison used was controlled and limited.
He said the two female suspects in the attack must have taken something given to them that contained the antidote before the attack.
"The KGB (a Russian intelligence agency) is known to have used this method (in their assassinations), it is easy to explain (how the two suspects were not affected by the deadly poison they wiped on Jong-Nam's face with their hands)," he said.
He said if the two women did not know what was contained in the food or beverage given to them before the attack, they were being used unknowingly; if they knew it contained an antidote, it was murder.
Ping expressed surprise that Jong-Nam, who knew that he was a target of assassination and had equipped himself with high-tech gadgets, had dropped his guard in Malaysia, where North Koreans are allowed visa-free entry.
He said Jong-Nam was probably tricked into a business deal in Malaysia, allowing the perpetrators to have access to his itinerary.