Malaysia expels North Korean envoy after Kim’s murder
Deported chemist says Kuala Lumpur threatened to harm his family
suggestion it may have violated sanctions imposed by the UN on North Korea, after a Reuters report said North Korea-linked firms were running an arms network in the country.
Reuters reported on Monday that North Korean intelligence agents used front companies to run an arms sales operation out of Malaysia under a brand called Glocom.
Meanwhile the North Korean chemist deported from Malaysia accused police of threatening to kill his family unless he confessed to the assassination of Kim, calling it a plot to tarnish his country’s honor.
Ri Jong Chol spoke to reporters in Beijing early Saturday while on his way to Pyongyang. Malaysian authorities have said there is insufficient evidence to charge Ri over Kim Jong Nam’s killing at Kuala Lumpur’s airport on Feb. 13.
Ri was detained four days after the attack but police never said what they believed his role was. Two women — one Indonesian, one Vietnamese — have been charged with murder after police said they smeared Kim’s face with VX, a banned nerve agent considered a weapon of mass destruction.
Ri said he was not at the airport the day Kim was killed but that police accused him of being a mastermind and presented him with “fake evidence.” He said they showed him a picture of his wife and two children, who were staying with him in Kuala Lumpur, and threatened to kill them.
“These men kept telling me to admit to the crime, and if not, my whole family would be killed, and you too won’t be safe. If you accept everything, you can live a good life in Malaysia,” Ri said. “This is when I realized that it was a trap ... they were plotting to tarnish my country’s reputation.”
National Police Chief Khalid Abu Bakar said that he would hold a presser on Tuesday to respond to Ri’s comments.
Immigration Director-General Mustafar Ali said Friday that Ri has been blacklisted from re-entering Malaysia.
Malaysia is looking for seven other North Korean suspects, four of whom are believed to have left the country on the day of the killing. Three others, including an official at the North Korean Embassy and an employee of Air Koryo, North Korea’s national carrier, are believed to still be in Malaysia.
Police on Friday issued an arrest warrant for the Air Koryo employee, Kim Uk Il, but did not say why he is a suspect. Police say he arrived in Malaysia on Jan. 29, about two weeks before Kim was killed.
Kim’s death has unleashed a diplomatic battle between Malaysia and North Korea. Malaysia said it was scrapping visa-free entry for North Koreans, while the Foreign Ministry said it was “greatly concerned” about the use of the nerve agent.