S. Korea holds top security meeting to discuss killing of N. Korea leader's brother

By Park Sae-jin Posted : February 15, 2017, 10:46 Updated : February 15, 2017, 10:46

South Korean commuters watch TV news report about Kim Jong-nam's death at Seoul Station on Wednesday morning. [Yonhap Photo]



South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn convened a high-level security conference Wednesday to discuss the suspected assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother in Malaysia.

Hwang, who serves as acting head of state, chairs the National Security Council (NSC) meeting involving the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, and unification as well as the head of South Korea's main spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, his office said.

The meeting comes amid specualtion that the killing of Kim Jong-nam, 45, could be part of a plot by the North's leader to eliminate potential risks to his autocratic rule and consolidate his power. The leader's deceased half-brother had been an outspoken critic of the regime.
 

[Courtesy of Royal Malaysian Police ]


Malaysian police said Jong-nam was pronounced dead "en route"  to a nearby hospital after being attacked while waiting for a flight to Macau at the customer service counter of the Kuala Lumpur airport.

The deceased man used a North Korean passport identifying him as Kim Chol, they said in a statement. "Investigation is in progress and a post mortem examination request has been made, to ascertain the cause of death."

Jong-nam appeared to have been attacked with an apparently toxic chemical in a plot involving two women, Malaysian newspapers reported, adding his body would be turned over to the North Korean embassy after an autopsy was done.

Jong-nam was once trained to succeed his father who died in late 2011. Following a botched attempt to secretly enter Japan using a fake passport and visit Tokyo Disneyland in May 2001, he was thought to have fallen out of favor with his father. He used to advocate reform in North Korea, criticizing the dynastic succession of power.

Mark Tokola, vice president of the Korea Economic Institute of America, said it's obvious that the North Korean leader ordered the killing.

"In looking for a motive for the murder, there is a Latin phrase for it, "Qui bono?" ("Who benefits?"). There are very few that would directly benefit from Kim Jong-nam's death other than his half-brother in Pyongyang," Tokola was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying.

The motivation could be an "a continuing sense of paranoia on the part of Kim Jong-un," he said, adding the North's leader has been eliminating those perceived as threats to him.

"Some commentators have theorized that the government of China was keeping Kim Jong-nam in reserve with the option of helping him assume power if Kim Jong-un fell in the future," Tokola said.

Some other experts in Seoul speculated that the assassination could have been conducted to prevent an attempt by Kim Jong-name to seek asylum.

"Kim Jong-nam may have sought to defect as the North's regime is believed to have cut off funding for him, making it difficult for him to live in foreign countries," Koh Yu-hwan, a Dongguk University professor, told Yonhap.

There have been sporadic reports of purges and executions involving senior party, government and military officials in North Korea. The most notorious case was reported in December 2013, when the leader executed his influential uncle Jang Song-thaek on charges including treason and corruption.

The leader's repressive dictatorship has led to the defection of some North Korean elites that Seoul says points to signs of cracks in the North's regime.

Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com

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