Malaysia to deport North Korean detained in Kim murder probe

PanARMENIAN.Net - Malaysia will deport a North Korean held in connection with the death of Kim Jong Nam, as diplomatic ties between the two countries frayed further following the murder at Kuala Lumpur's airport, Reuters reports.

The relationship between Malaysia and North Korea has soured since the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jung Un was murdered two weeks ago at Kuala Lumpur International Airport with a super toxic nerve agent.

South Korean intelligence and U.S. officials say the murder was an assassination organised by North Korean agents, though the only suspects charged in the case so far are an Indonesian woman and a Vietnamese woman.

Police are also holding one North Korean man and want to question seven others, including a senior official in the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

But, the detained North Korean, Ri Jong Chol, will be deported on Friday, March 3 as there is insufficient evidence to charge him, Malaysian Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali told Reuters in a text message on Thursday.

Ri was arrested in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 17 with a work permit that had been valid till Feb. 6, 2017.

It is unclear what Ri's suspected role was in the murder.

Security camera footage showed two women assaulting Kim Jong Nam at the airport as he was waiting to board a flight to Macau, where he had been living with his family under Chinese protection.

Malaysian police say they smeared his face with VX nerve agent, a chemical classified by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction, and that Kim died within 20 minutes of being attacked.