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posted by on Wednesday February 15 2017, @09:05PM   Printer-friendly
from the conspiracy! dept.

Kim Jong-un's Half-Brother Reportedly Killed in Malaysia

Kim Jong-un's estranged half-brother has reportedly been killed:

The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been killed in Malaysia, South Korean and Malaysian sources say. Kim Jong-nam, 45, is said to have been targeted at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, the capital. A source close to the Malaysian PM's office told the BBC that Mr Kim was killed in the city, saying his body was now undergoing an autopsy.

Kim Jong-nam was the eldest son of former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Also at Bloomberg, NYT, Reuters, and DW.

Eldest Son of Former North Korean Dictator Assassinated

In a story filed at 23:22 GMT 2017-02-14, China-based SINA reports

[...] South Korea's TV Chosun, a cable television network, said that Kim was poisoned at Kuala Lumpur airport by two women believed to be North Korean operatives, who were at large, citing multiple South Korean government sources.

However, Selangor Police chief Abdul Samah Mat was reported to have said that a woman had approached Kim Jong-nam at the airport departure lounge and covered the victim's head with a cloth which contained an unidentified liquid.

[...] In 2001, Kim Jong-nam was caught at an airport in Japan traveling on a fake passport, saying he had wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

He was known to travel to Hong Kong, Macao and the Chinese mainland. He said several times over the years that he had no interest in leading his country.

Numerous North Koreans of influence who were suspected of less than total loyalty to the regime have been killed, apparently at the order his brother, the dictator. It appears that this latest death was simply tying up a loose end.

Earlier reports of poisoned needles or sprayed poison appear to lack credibility.


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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by ikanreed on Wednesday February 15 2017, @09:31PM

    by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 15 2017, @09:31PM (#467602) Journal

    Can you imagine the primitive governments and Byzantine politics that form when family connections to a country's leader are the most important reins of power to hold.

    I'm sure happy to live in a modern liberal democracy where no presidents are children or spouses of previous presidents and family businesses aren't directly and officially supported by the government.

    What a mess that would be.

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15 2017, @09:53PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15 2017, @09:53PM (#467610)

    We lost! Get over it!

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday February 15 2017, @10:30PM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @10:30PM (#467630) Journal

    It sounds like Merry Olde England to me. Or Scotland, with that whole Shakespeare thing. Or any other country with a feudal or authoritarian system.

    FWIW, the estranged brother of Kim Jong-un's looked pretty fat, which for a North Korean means he had it really good most of his life.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 16 2017, @10:59AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 16 2017, @10:59AM (#467753)

      FWIW, the estranged brother of Kim Jong-un's looked pretty fat, which for a North Korean means he had it really good most of his life.

      Or he ate a bit too much in Malaysia? Seriously, you don't need to spend most of your life to get that fat.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 16 2017, @06:27PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 16 2017, @06:27PM (#467906)

    Yeah that would be terrible, but I would still support Ivanka as the First Female (and Jewish) POTUS, if only to have the LEFT paint her as LITERATELY MYSAGONISTIST HITLER.