North Korean diplomat a suspect in Kim Jong Nam assassination

SINGAPORE — A North Korean diplomat is a suspect in the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of leader Kim Jong Un, Malaysia's police chief said Wednesday.

Inspector-General Khalid Abu Bakar identified Hyon Kwang Song, 44, who works as second secretary at the North Korean embassy in Malaysia, as a new suspect from the reclusive country.  Another suspect, Kim Uk Il, 37, is believed to be an employee of Air Koryo, North Korea’s state airline.

"They've been called in for assistance. We hope the embassy will cooperate with us and allow us to interview them quickly or else we will compel them to come to us," Bakar told a news conference.

"We can't confirm that they are hiding in the embassy," he told Reuters, adding that the two were in Malaysia.

Bakar said he couldn’t confirm whether North Korea’s government was behind the Feb. 13 death of Kim Jong Nam in an alleged poisoning at Kuala Lumpur airport, but “what’s clear is that those involved are North Koreans," the Associated Press reported.

Eight North Koreans have been identified as suspects. Bakar said four are believed to have fled the same day and are back in their homeland. One North Korean suspect is in custody and three are believed to be at large in Malaysia, including Hyon Kwang Song and Kim Uk Il, according to AP.

Bakar dismissed the idea that two women detained as suspects in the killing believed they were taking part in a prank, as they have claimed. He said that the women — Vietnamese passport holder Doan Thi Huong, 28, and Indonesian national Siti Aisyah, 25 — rehearsed the scenario and recognized that they were administering poison.

North Korea embassy official a suspect in Kim Jong Nam's death

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"They knew it was a toxic substance to kill Jong Nam,” he said, according to Malaysian news agency Bernama. “At first, Siti Aisyah approached the deceased and wiped his face with the toxic (substance) and this was followed by the Vietnamese suspect.

"The two suspects then went straight to the toilet to clean their hands immediately after the attack. They knew it was toxic,” he added.

The North Korean embassy in Malaysia said the two women and a third arrested suspect, a North Korean national, should be released immediately.

In a statement released to the media, the embassy denied the claim that the women could have used poison.

“Malaysia has been conducting the investigation based on the CCTV footage that was released to the public and the delusion that the female suspects had daubed the poison on the victim's face with their own hands,” the statement read.

“Then how is it possible that these female suspects could be alive after the incident? This means that the liquid they daubed for a joke is not a poison and there is another cause of death for the deceased.”