It reported that three North Koreans wanted by Malaysian police had separately lured the Vietnamese and Indonesian women, since charged with the murder, to join the plot and that they trained in Cambodia.
Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 29 and Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, were recently charged here with the murder of Jong Nam. They are alleged to have smeared the VX nerve agent, a banned chemical weapon, on Jong Nam’s face at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb 13.
Malaysian police are seeking several North Korean men for questioning in connection with the murder. Four of them fled to North Korea the same day Jong Nam was murdered but a few are believed to be holed up in the North Korean embassy here.
The four who fled the country are Rhi Ji Hyon, 33, Hong Song Hac, 34, O Jong Gil, 55, and Ri Jae Nam, 57.
Yonhap said Rhi Ji Hyon is the son of former North Korean ambassador to Hanoi, Ri Hong.
It was probably this man, fluent in Vietnamese, who had lured Doan into the plot to murder Jong Nam, it quoted sources as saying.
Yonhap reported that Rhi, whose name it spelled as Ri, had lived in Vietnam for about 10 years, working as a trainee diplomat and an interpreter.
According to Yonhap, Rhi and another suspect, Ri Jae Nam, are believed to have visited Vietnam last December in a bid to find a Vietnamese citizen to join the plot to kill Jong Nam.
Quoting sources, it said the duo had gone to Cambodia with Duon to carry out trial runs. Apparently, she believed it was part of preparations for a show.
Yonhap said Japan’s broadcaster NHK reported that O Jong Gil, yet another suspect, had worked at the North Korean Embassy in Indonesia.
It said Siti Aisyah was believed to have been influenced by O to take part and that they held similar practice runs at a different place in Cambodia.
FMT could not immediately verify the Yonhap story.
The killing of Jong Nam resulted in a diplomatic row between Malaysia and North Korea.
Nine Malaysians are still stranded in Pyongyang after North Korea barred all Malaysians there from leaving the country. Malaysia, subsequently, in a tit-for-tat action, barred North Koreans from leaving the country.
Negotiations are going on between both nations for the safe return of their citizens.