S. Korea: N. Korea Killed Kim's Brother

1 more arrested in Kim Jong Nam's death as 4 more North Koreans are sought
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 19, 2017 6:03 AM CST
S. Korea: N. Korea Killed Kim's Brother
Kim Jong Nam, left, the estranged half-brother of Kim Jong Un, in Narita, Japan, on May 4, 2001, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on May 9, 2016.   (AP Photos/Shizuo Kambayashi, Wong Maye-E, File)

Malaysian police investigating the murder of Kim Jong Un's estranged half-brother have arrested a North Korean man, reports the Wall Street Journal, and they're looking for four more North Koreans believed to have left the country the same day Kim Jong Nam was killed. Ri Jong Chol, 46, was arrested Friday night in a raid based on information given police from one of two women earlier arrested; he's now the fourth person arrested in the incident, but apparently not the last. "We are searching for a few more," says a local police chief. Those few more, reports the AP, are four North Korean men who left Malaysia the day Kim died. The men hold regular, not diplomatic passports

That's all enough for South Korea to throw the blame for his death at Pyongyang, reports the BBC. "We believe the North Korean regime is behind this incident considering five suspects are North Koreans," says a unification ministry spokesman. "Considering North Korea has so far committed crimes against humanity and terror acts, we, together with the international community, are closely watching this brutal, reckless incident with serious concerns," he added. Malaysia's national police chief says he expects autopsy results within days, a procedure that was performed over North Korea's protestations. North Korea's ambassador accused Malaysia of "trying to conceal something," and complained that the autopsy was performed "unilaterally and excluding our attendance." (South Korea also plans to let North Koreans know about the death.)

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