North Korea, Malaysia row deepens as CCTV footage of Kim death emerges

The diplomatic confrontation gathered pace on Monday when Malaysia recalled its envoy to North Korea and summoned Pyongyang’s ambassador Kang Chol for a dressing down.

In this image made from Feb. 13, 2017, airport closed circuit television video and provided by Fuji Television, Kim Jong-nam, exiled half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, gestures towards Show more

KUALA LUMPUR // North Korea and Malaysia locked horns over the investigation into the killing of leader Kim Jong-un’s brother on Monday, as footage emerged of the moment he was fatally attacked in a Kuala Lumpur airport.

Malaysia’s probe has put five North Koreans in the frame for the airport assassination of, but Pyongyang said it had no faith in the investigation and claimed Kuala Lumpur was in cahoots with “hostile forces”.

The diplomatic confrontation gathered pace on Monday when Malaysia recalled its envoy to North Korea and summoned Pyongyang’s ambassador Kang Chol.

Mr Kang responded saying: “It has been seven days since the incident, but there is no clear evidence on the cause of death and at the moment we cannot trust the investigation by the Malaysian police.”

The Malaysian response to the ambassador’s press conference was equally blunt, with foreign minister Anifah Aman saying North Korea’s complaints were based on “delusions, lies and half-truths”.

Any suggestion that the investigation had a political motive was “deeply insulting to Malaysia”, he said.

Pyongyang has criticised Malaysia for carrying out a post-mortem examination without North Korean permission — a complaint Kuala Lumpur said was groundless.

“The ministry emphasised that as the death occurred on Malaysian soil under mysterious circumstances, it is the responsibility of the Malaysian government to conduct an investigation to identify the cause of death,” the foreign ministry said.

“The Malaysian government takes very seriously any unfounded attempt to tarnish its reputation. The Malaysian government views the criticism ... as baseless.”

Malaysia prime minister Najib Razak said he has “absolute confidence” that police and doctors have been “very objective” in their work.

Mr Najib said Malaysia had no reason to “paint the North Koreans in a bad light”. Mr Kang previously said Malaysia may be “trying to conceal something”.

Surveillance video footage, obtained by Fuji TV and often grainy and blurred, seems to show the two women approaching Kim from different directions. One comes up behind him and appears to hold something over his mouth for a few seconds.

Then the women turn and calmly walk off in different directions. More footage shows Kim, a long-estranged scion of the family that has ruled North Korea for three generations, walking up to airport workers and security officials, gesturing at his eyes and asking for help. He then walks alongside as they lead him to the airport clinic.

Fuji TV has not revealed how it acquired the video footage, which was taken by a series of security cameras as Kim arrived for a flight to Macau, where he had a home.

Photographs showing a man slumped in a chair at the clinic, consistent with the CCTV images of the attack, were published in the Malaysian press over the weekend.

Kim, in his mid-40s, died shortly after the attack, en route to a hospital after suffering a seizure, Malaysian officials say.

Seoul has pointed the finger of blame at Pyongyang for the attack last Monday, citing a “standing order” from the leader to kill his elder sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after he criticised the regime.

The claim was bolstered over the weekend, with Malaysian police saying they believed five North Koreans were involved in the killing.

One of them was already in custody, and four are believed to have fled the country on the day of the murder.

Detectives are also holding an Indonesian woman and her Malaysian boyfriend, as well as a Vietnamese woman.

Three other North Koreans were wanted for questioning, police said.

At least three of the wanted North Koreans took a flight from Jakarta to Dubai on the evening of the murder, an Indonesian immigration official said.

They had travelled from Malaysia to Jakarta and after Dubai returned to Pyongyang via Russia, Malaysian media quoted official sources as saying.

South Korea’s unification minister Hong Yong-pyo said on Monday it was becoming even more clear that the North Korean government was behind the killing of Kim.

“The Malaysian government is prudently investigating the case and we think it’s significant that it officially announced North Korean suspects were involved,” Mr Hong said.

* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press