As Malaysian police continue their inquiry into the death of Kim Jong Nam, the outcast half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, there is plenty of
SEOUL/KUALA LUMPUR – As Malaysian police continue their inquiry into the death of Kim Jong Nam, the outcast half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, there is plenty of speculation surrounding one of the stranger killings the world has recently seen.
North Korea killed Kim Jong Nam because he planned to create an exile government around defectors, says one rumor.
Kim Jong Un was furious after learning about secret Chinese plans to enthrone his estranged sibling in Pyongyang if something happens to him, says another.
Or maybe Pyongyang wasn’t involved at all. Perhaps, Kim Jong Nam, known for his carefree lifestyle and gambling habits, angered crime organizations over money problems, say some arguments online.
Some theories are more bizarre. South Korean newspapers have reported on Chinese internet rumors that impeached South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who faces a court ruling on whether she should permanently step down over a corruption scandal, plotted Kim’s death to create a distraction.
South Korea’s spy agency, which has consistently described Kim Jong Un as an irrational and unstable dictator, argues that he killed a nonthreatening sibling out of “paranoia.”
The fuming North Korean ambassador to Kuala Lumpur says the country will reject the autopsy results on Kim Jong Nam because Malaysian officials may be “trying to conceal something” and “colluding with hostile forces.”
North Korean diplomats in Malaysia had requested custody of Kim Jong Nam’s body, arguing that he had a North Korean passport, but Malaysian authorities went ahead with the autopsy anyway, saying they had not received a formal complaint.
The autopsy could provide some clarity in the case. Authorities were still awaiting the autopsy results.
Malaysia said Friday that it wants DNA samples from Kim Jong Nam’s family to confirm the body’s identity as part of the postmortem procedure and that officials were not yet willing to hand the body over to the North Koreans.
Although Kim Jong Nam is believed to have fathered two sons and a daughter with two women living in Beijing and Macau, police in Malaysia say no one has come forward to claim the body or provide DNA samples.
