A Vietnamese woman who introduced her compatriot to the North Korean masterminds behind the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of No
SHAH ALAM, MALAYSIA – A Vietnamese woman who introduced her compatriot to the North Korean masterminds behind the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, believes she was duped, a Malaysian court heard Wednesday.
Hisyam Teh Poh Teik, the defense lawyer for Doan Thi Huong, 29, presented a statement given by Nguyen Bich Thuy to the Vietnamese police on March 1,2017, two weeks after Kim Jong Nam was murdered at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. In the statement, Thuy, 32, detailed how Huong was recruited by Ri Ji Hyon, one of four North Koreans wanted by the Malaysian authorities.
Huong has been charged at the Shah Alam High Court together with Siti Aisyah, 26, from Indonesia, and the four North Koreans still at large with killing Kim Jong Nam on Feb. 13,2017. Huong and Aisyah were caught on airport security cameras wiping his face with what is believed to be the deadly nerve agent VX.
The four North Koreans — Ri Ji Hyon, Ri Jae Nam, Hong Song Hac and O Jong Gil — were also seen at the airport on that fateful day. They fled the country hours after the murder.
During cross examination of the chief police investigator Wan Azirul Nizam, Hisyam produced an affidavit Thuy had made in October last year that also contained her police statement.
In her statement, Thuy said, “I realized that Huong might be made full use of by ‘Li’ to assassinate a person in Malaysia.”
“Li” was the name that Ri Ji Hyon introduced himself to Thuy with.
“I and all friends of Huong never believe that Huong could kill a person and she even does not have the courage to do so,” she added.
