Siti Aisyah, 25, had first met a man named James at the popular Beach Club in downtown Kuala Lumpur. It is not known if he had told her that he was from North Korea, but police later revealed his identity as being North Korean citizen, Ri Ji U, 30.
Ri (James) had apparently worked his charm on the part-time masseuse, who was described as shy and attractive by a colleague.
After several meetings, Siti agreed to his request to star in a reality TV show.
The gig was simply to play pranks on strangers on busy streets in Kuala Lumpur and several locations, including malls, train stations and hotels.
According to the regional news broadcaster, the duo executed more than 10 pranks and Siti was paid US$100 (RM445) to US$150 each time, depending on her performance.
In the course of their meetings, Siti had also taken a photo of Ri (James) and this was the source which helped the police identify him in the course of their investigations.
Ri is one of three men wanted by the police, and who are believed to be in hiding at the North Korean embassy in Jalan Batai, in KL’s high end suburb of Damansara Heights. The other two are diplomatic official Hyon Kwang Song and Kim Uk Il, who is an employee with Air Koryo.
The three men are wanted for questioning on the murder of Kim Jong Nam at the low-cost carrier airport, klia2, on the morning of Feb 13.
Siti and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 29, were charged with committing the murder earlier this month.
The two women had allegedly wiped Jong Nam’s face with a substance later identified as VX nerve agent, a chemical poison classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations.
CNA reported that after these earlier pranks were carried out by Siti, she then accompanied Ri (James) to Phnom Penh to meet another North Korean man, who only identified himself as Chang.
She was told that he was from China and didn’t suspect anything amiss as Chang spoke fluent Mandarin and could also converse in Bahasa Indonesia.
Siti told police it was while in the Cambodian capital that she was given an ointment by Chang, who then told her to smear it on the face of the next prank target.
A source close to the investigation told CNA that Chang was later identified by police as Hang Song Hac and that he was one of four North Korean intelligence operatives who were in the airport on the day of the murder but left the country within hours of Jong Nam’s death.
Hang and the three other North Korean men were caught on CCTV footage at klia2 on Feb 13, prior to getting on a flight to Jakarta. They are believed to have made two more stops, in Dubai and Vladivostok, before landing home in Pyongyang.
Based on a request from Malaysian police, Interpol has since issued a red notice on the four North Koreans wanted in connection with the murder of Jong Nam.
According to the source, Siti carried out a few more “practice runs” on the prank she was to pull, before Ri (James) helped Siti celebrate her birthday just two days before the attack on Jong Nam. He had allegedly also told them how Siti was fast becoming a superstar in Korea.
Feb 13 came and the rest, as they say, is history. It is also a mystery that may never be fully solved as the two women insist that they had never met until that fateful morning at klia2. They now face the death penalty if they are convicted for murder.