The body of Kim Jong Un's slain half-brother has become the subject of a diplomatic turf war between North Korea and Malaysia, where he was poisoned
The body of Kim Jong Un’s slain half-brother has become the subject of a diplomatic turf war between North Korea and Malaysia, where he was poisoned earlier this month with a powerful nerve agent.
A high-level delegation of North Koreans arrived in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, on Tuesday to try to claim the body of Kim Jong Nam, NPR’s Elise Hu reports from Seoul.
« The North Korean delegation — which includes former North Korean diplomats — told reporters it is seeking the body of Kim as well as the release of one North Korean suspect that’s in custody in connection with the death, » Elise reports. « Malaysia is refusing to give up the body until it gets DNA samples from Kim Jong Nam’s immediate family for positive identification of the body. »
Kim suddenly fell ill at the Kuala Lumpur airport, and surveillance video shows two women approaching him and holding a cloth over his face. Malaysia’s health minister later said that he died within 20 minutes due to the effects of the VX nerve agent , one of the world’s deadliest chemical weapons.
