Members of North Korean state ministries were reportedly responsible for the mysterious assassination of leader Kim Jong Un’s brother earlier this month, according to South Korean officials. South Korea lawmakers have also said that the brutal dictator directly ordered his half-sibling’s demise, Reuters reported Monday.
The bizarre and globally shocking killing of Kim Jong Nam at a Malaysian airport by use of a banned nerve agent was allegedly carried out by eight suspects. Four of them stemmed from North Korea’s foreign and security ministries, South Korean intelligence officials told its lawmakers according to the report.
“Among eight suspects in this case four are from the ministry of state security and two who actually took action are from the foreign ministry,” Lee Cheol-woo, one of the lawmakers briefed by South Korean intelligence, told reporters.
Lee also said: “That is why it is a case of terrorism led by the state, directly organized by the ministry of state security and the foreign ministry.”
North Korea has vehemently denied the accusations ever since Kim was killed by two women, one who sprayed him with the agent and the other covering his face with a rag, as he prepared to take a plan to Macau in China on Feb. 13. Kim died roughly 20 minutes afterwards.
Kim Jong Un’s regime has also failed to recognize that the victim was in fact his estranged brother, who was older than he and the first son of Kim Jong Il.
Three suspects have been taken into custody, including the two women who are from Vietnam and Indonesia, respectively.
Another South Korean lawmaker, Kim Byung-kee, said the murder was carried out by three groups, two assassination groups and one support group, CNN reported.
“The assassination of Kim Jong Nam was an act of systematic terror ordered by Kim Jong Un,” Kim said during a television address. “The operation was conducted with two assassination groups and one supporting group.”
The four suspects believed to be tied to North Korea’s ministries have all travelled back to the totalitarian state, Kim also said.
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