Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Monday his government’s investigation of the killing of the North Korean leader’s half-brother, Kim Jong-nam, will be “objective”, as tension rose between the countries.
Earlier on Monday, Malaysia said it has recalled its envoy from Pyongyang and summoned North Korea’s Ambassador in Kuala Lumpur, who again cast doubt on the impartiality of Malaysia’s investigation into the murder and said the victim was not Kim Jong-nam.
“We have no reason why we want to do something to paint North Korea in a bad light, but we will be objective,” Mr. Najib told reporters in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
CCTV footage obtained by Reuters appeared to show Kim Jong-nam being attacked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday last week by a woman, who is believed to have wiped a fast-acting poison on his face. South Korean legislators last week cited their spy agency as saying Kim Jong-un, had issued a “standing order” for his half-brother’s assassination, and that there had been a failed attempt in 2012.
Malaysian police are hunting four North Koreans who fled from the country on the day of the attack, having already detained one North Korean man, a Vietnamese woman, an Indonesian woman, and a Malaysian man.
At least three of the wanted North Koreans caught an Emirates flight to Dubai from Jakarta late on the day of the attack, an immigration official in Indonesia told Reuters. Malaysia’s Star newspaper reported that all four had returned to North Korea.
