Assassination of Kim Jong-nam | |
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![]() KLIA2 main lobby; pictured in September 2016, the site of Kim Jong-nam's assassination | |
Location | Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, Malaysia |
Coordinates | 2°44′35″N 101°41′10″E / 2.74306°N 101.68611°E |
Date | 13 February 2017 |
Target | Kim Jong-nam |
Weapons | VX nerve agent |
Perpetrators | Siti Aisyah Đoàn Thị Hương |
Convictions | One convicted of "voluntarily causing injuries by dangerous weapons or means" |
History of Malaysia |
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On 13 February 2017, Kim Jong-nam, the older half-brother of the dictator of North Korea Kim Jong Un, was assassinated at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. He had been living abroad since his exile from North Korea in 2003.
Following his visit to the resort island Langkawi, Kim Jong-nam arrived at terminal 2 sometime before 9:00 a.m. to take a 10:50 a.m. AirAsia flight to Macau. At approximately 9:00 a.m., two women sprayed Kim Jong-nam with the VX nerve agent. He died about 15 to 20 minutes later while being transported to the hospital.
The women were identified as Siti Aisyah from Indonesia and Đoàn Thị Hương from Vietnam. Both were charged with the murder of Kim Jong-nam. The murder charges were eventually dropped, although Hương pled guilty to a lesser charge of "voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means" and received a sentence of three years and four months. She was released from prison on 3 May 2019.
It is widely believed that Kim Jong-nam was murdered on the orders of Kim Jong Un.[1][2][3] Four North Korean suspects, later confirmed as spies, left the airport shortly after the assassination and reached Pyongyang without being arrested. Other North Koreans were arrested but were released without charge.
Kim ordered the deadly attack using the outlawed nerve agent VX—one of the most toxic chemical warfare agents. against Jong-Nam, his half-brother and erstwhile competitor for the position of the supreme leader of North Korea.