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| Kim Jong-nam, the Hunted Heir to a Dictator Who Met Death in Exile | Kim Jong-nam, the Hunted Heir to a Dictator Who Met Death in Exile |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| SEOUL, South Korea — When North Korea held a state funeral for its leader, Kim Jong-il, in 2011, one son was conspicuously absent. | SEOUL, South Korea — When North Korea held a state funeral for its leader, Kim Jong-il, in 2011, one son was conspicuously absent. |
| The absence of Kim Jong-nam — the eldest son of the family, who was bound by Korean tradition to preside over the funeral — was all the evidence outside analysts needed to see how isolated he had become from the center of power in North Korea, the world’s most secretive regime. | The absence of Kim Jong-nam — the eldest son of the family, who was bound by Korean tradition to preside over the funeral — was all the evidence outside analysts needed to see how isolated he had become from the center of power in North Korea, the world’s most secretive regime. |
| Never fully accepted by his family, sidelined by his powerful stepmother and haunted by fears of assassins, Mr. Kim lived much of his life wandering abroad, in Moscow, Geneva, Beijing, Paris and Macau, the Chinese gambling enclave. | Never fully accepted by his family, sidelined by his powerful stepmother and haunted by fears of assassins, Mr. Kim lived much of his life wandering abroad, in Moscow, Geneva, Beijing, Paris and Macau, the Chinese gambling enclave. |
| On Monday, Mr. Kim, 45, met his end at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. According to the National Intelligence Service of South Korea, he was poisoned by two women who appeared to be carrying out an assassination order from Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. Mr. Kim died on his way to the hospital. A woman was arrested in connection with the killing on Wednesday. | On Monday, Mr. Kim, 45, met his end at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. According to the National Intelligence Service of South Korea, he was poisoned by two women who appeared to be carrying out an assassination order from Pyongyang, the North Korean capital. Mr. Kim died on his way to the hospital. A woman was arrested in connection with the killing on Wednesday. |
| It remains uncertain if Mr. Kim was traveling alone or if bodyguards were present. It was also unclear how many people were involved in the attack and whether airport cameras captured the episode. | It remains uncertain if Mr. Kim was traveling alone or if bodyguards were present. It was also unclear how many people were involved in the attack and whether airport cameras captured the episode. |
| Grainy footage released on Wednesday showed a woman suspected of being one of the assassins, who appeared to be of Asian descent and wore a shirt emblazoned with “LOL” in large letters, before she fled the airport. | Grainy footage released on Wednesday showed a woman suspected of being one of the assassins, who appeared to be of Asian descent and wore a shirt emblazoned with “LOL” in large letters, before she fled the airport. |
| The Royal Malaysia Police announced late Wednesday afternoon that they had arrested a woman that morning and that she had been carrying a Vietnamese passport in Terminal 2, where the attack occurred. They said she was “positively identified” from closed-circuit video, and was alone at the time of her arrest. | |
| She was identified as Doan Thin Hoang, 28, according to the inspector general of the police, Khalid Abu Bakar. | She was identified as Doan Thin Hoang, 28, according to the inspector general of the police, Khalid Abu Bakar. |
| There were no markers or police tape at Terminal 2 on Wednesday to indicate that a crime had been committed. | There were no markers or police tape at Terminal 2 on Wednesday to indicate that a crime had been committed. |
| Airport workers who had seen Mr. Kim said on Wednesday that they had been ordered not to discuss the case. | Airport workers who had seen Mr. Kim said on Wednesday that they had been ordered not to discuss the case. |
| South Korea’s acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, said on Wednesday that his government was working with the Malaysian authorities to find the assailants. But officials in Seoul quickly pointed fingers at Mr. Kim’s half brother, the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has ordered the executions of a number of senior officials, including his own uncle, who have been deemed potential challenges to his authority. | |
| Ever since Kim Jong-un succeeded his father in 2011, “there has been a standing order” to assassinate his half brother, Lee Byung-ho, the director of the South’s National Intelligence Service, said during a closed-door briefing at the National Assembly, according to lawmakers who attended it. | Ever since Kim Jong-un succeeded his father in 2011, “there has been a standing order” to assassinate his half brother, Lee Byung-ho, the director of the South’s National Intelligence Service, said during a closed-door briefing at the National Assembly, according to lawmakers who attended it. |
| “This is not a calculated action to remove Kim Jong-nam because he was a challenge to power per se, but rather reflected Kim Jong-un’s paranoia,” Mr. Lee was quoted as saying. | “This is not a calculated action to remove Kim Jong-nam because he was a challenge to power per se, but rather reflected Kim Jong-un’s paranoia,” Mr. Lee was quoted as saying. |
| Kim Jong-un wanted his half brother killed, Mr. Lee said, and there was an assassination attempt against him in 2012. Mr. Kim was so afraid of assassins that he begged for his life in a letter to his half brother in 2012. | Kim Jong-un wanted his half brother killed, Mr. Lee said, and there was an assassination attempt against him in 2012. Mr. Kim was so afraid of assassins that he begged for his life in a letter to his half brother in 2012. |
| “Please withdraw the order to punish me and my family,” Mr. Kim was quoted as saying in the letter. “We have nowhere to hide. The only way to escape is to choose suicide.” | “Please withdraw the order to punish me and my family,” Mr. Kim was quoted as saying in the letter. “We have nowhere to hide. The only way to escape is to choose suicide.” |
| Mr. Lee said that Kim Jong-nam had no power base inside North Korea, where Kim Jong-un had swiftly established his monolithic rule with what the South called a reign of terror. | Mr. Lee said that Kim Jong-nam had no power base inside North Korea, where Kim Jong-un had swiftly established his monolithic rule with what the South called a reign of terror. |
| Kim Jong-nam arrived in Malaysia last week, Mr. Lee said. He was in line at the airport to check in for a flight to Macau on Monday morning when he was attacked by the two women, Mr. Lee said, citing security camera footage from the airport. The women fled the airport in a taxi, Mr. Lee said. | |
| If North Korea’s involvement is proved, Washington could face intense pressure to put the country back on its list of nations that sponsor terrorism, said Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at the Sejong Institute, a think tank in South Korea. | If North Korea’s involvement is proved, Washington could face intense pressure to put the country back on its list of nations that sponsor terrorism, said Cheong Seong-chang, an analyst at the Sejong Institute, a think tank in South Korea. |
| North Korea was first put on the terrorism list after the South caught a woman from the North who confessed to planting a bomb on a South Korean airliner that exploded over the Indian Ocean, near Myanmar, in 1987. The North was taken off the list in 2008, after a deal aimed at ending its nuclear program. | North Korea was first put on the terrorism list after the South caught a woman from the North who confessed to planting a bomb on a South Korean airliner that exploded over the Indian Ocean, near Myanmar, in 1987. The North was taken off the list in 2008, after a deal aimed at ending its nuclear program. |
| South Korea’s military plans to use loudspeakers along the shared Korean border to inform North Koreans of Mr. Kim’s killing and of their government’s brutality, a South Korean news agency, Yonhap, reported on Wednesday. The Defense Ministry declined to confirm the report. | South Korea’s military plans to use loudspeakers along the shared Korean border to inform North Koreans of Mr. Kim’s killing and of their government’s brutality, a South Korean news agency, Yonhap, reported on Wednesday. The Defense Ministry declined to confirm the report. |
| “By assassinating Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-un may have removed a thorn in the side, but it will further isolate his country,” Mr. Cheong said. “It is also expected to worsen his country’s relations with China, which has been protecting his brother.” | “By assassinating Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-un may have removed a thorn in the side, but it will further isolate his country,” Mr. Cheong said. “It is also expected to worsen his country’s relations with China, which has been protecting his brother.” |
| Kim Jong-nam’s life illuminates the hidden intrigue in the Kim family, which has ruled North Korea for almost seven decades. | |
| While the lives of the rest of the family remained shrouded in mystery, Mr. Kim, the oldest of three known sons of Kim Jong-il, has been the closest thing the isolated Stalinist state has had to an international playboy. | While the lives of the rest of the family remained shrouded in mystery, Mr. Kim, the oldest of three known sons of Kim Jong-il, has been the closest thing the isolated Stalinist state has had to an international playboy. |
| He was often seen with fashionably dressed women in international airports and spent much of his time in casinos in Macau, where he also kept an expensive house. | He was often seen with fashionably dressed women in international airports and spent much of his time in casinos in Macau, where he also kept an expensive house. |
| Outside analysts often saw him as a possible candidate to replace Kim Jong-un if the North Korean leadership imploded and China, traditionally an ally, sought a replacement in its client state. | Outside analysts often saw him as a possible candidate to replace Kim Jong-un if the North Korean leadership imploded and China, traditionally an ally, sought a replacement in its client state. |
| Chinese experts on North Korea said they doubted that Kim Jong-nam had special security protection from Beijing. | Chinese experts on North Korea said they doubted that Kim Jong-nam had special security protection from Beijing. |
| “Chinese elites had no expectation this guy could play an important political role,” said Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor of international relations at Renmin University. “If China wanted to use him as an alternative leader, China would have offered good protection, but this assassination shows he had no security protection.” | “Chinese elites had no expectation this guy could play an important political role,” said Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor of international relations at Renmin University. “If China wanted to use him as an alternative leader, China would have offered good protection, but this assassination shows he had no security protection.” |
| In Macau, where Mr. Kim was headed, he was safe just by being there, said Zhang Baohui, director of the Center for Asian Pacific Studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. | In Macau, where Mr. Kim was headed, he was safe just by being there, said Zhang Baohui, director of the Center for Asian Pacific Studies at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. |
| “Macau is part of China and is a safe haven in itself,” he said. | “Macau is part of China and is a safe haven in itself,” he said. |
| Mr. Kim was a prince in exile with little chance of returning home, analysts and officials in South Korea said. | Mr. Kim was a prince in exile with little chance of returning home, analysts and officials in South Korea said. |
| His wife and a daughter and son are in Macau under Chinese protection, Mr. Lee said. | His wife and a daughter and son are in Macau under Chinese protection, Mr. Lee said. |
| The South Korean intelligence agency did not disclose how it had obtained the letter from Mr. Kim begging his half brother to spare his life. But government sources said that emails Mr. Kim sent home through North Korean embassies had been obtained in a hacking operation. In one of the emails, they said, Mr. Kim bitterly complained that the North Korean government stopped sending him cash after his father died and Kim Jong-un took over. In 2012, a news report said Mr. Kim was thrown out of a luxury Macau hotel, unable to pay a $15,000 bill. | The South Korean intelligence agency did not disclose how it had obtained the letter from Mr. Kim begging his half brother to spare his life. But government sources said that emails Mr. Kim sent home through North Korean embassies had been obtained in a hacking operation. In one of the emails, they said, Mr. Kim bitterly complained that the North Korean government stopped sending him cash after his father died and Kim Jong-un took over. In 2012, a news report said Mr. Kim was thrown out of a luxury Macau hotel, unable to pay a $15,000 bill. |
| The Kim family has never been known for its togetherness. | The Kim family has never been known for its togetherness. |
| Kim Jong-nam’s mother, Sung Hae-rim, a decorated “people’s actress,” was already married and the mother of a child when Kim Jong-il forced her to divorce her novelist husband to marry him. Kim Jong-il adored his first son, Kim Jong-nam. He once seated his young son at his office desk and told him, “This is the place where you will one day give orders,” according to Lee Han-young, a relative who defected to the South in 1982. | Kim Jong-nam’s mother, Sung Hae-rim, a decorated “people’s actress,” was already married and the mother of a child when Kim Jong-il forced her to divorce her novelist husband to marry him. Kim Jong-il adored his first son, Kim Jong-nam. He once seated his young son at his office desk and told him, “This is the place where you will one day give orders,” according to Lee Han-young, a relative who defected to the South in 1982. |
| But Kim Jong-nam’s grandfather, the North’s founding president, Kim Il-sung, never approved of the marriage. | But Kim Jong-nam’s grandfather, the North’s founding president, Kim Il-sung, never approved of the marriage. |
| “My father was keeping highly secret the fact that he was living with my mother, who was married, a famous movie actress, so I couldn’t get out of the house or make friends,” Mr. Kim was quoted as saying in a 2012 book by a Japanese journalist. “That solitude from childhood may have made me what I am now, preferring freedom.” | “My father was keeping highly secret the fact that he was living with my mother, who was married, a famous movie actress, so I couldn’t get out of the house or make friends,” Mr. Kim was quoted as saying in a 2012 book by a Japanese journalist. “That solitude from childhood may have made me what I am now, preferring freedom.” |
| Mr. Kim was born in secret, and when his mother fell out of favor with Kim Jong-il and was forced to live in Moscow, he was left in the care of her sister. He was later sent to Geneva, where he learned English and French. (His mother was alone in Moscow when she died in 2002.) | Mr. Kim was born in secret, and when his mother fell out of favor with Kim Jong-il and was forced to live in Moscow, he was left in the care of her sister. He was later sent to Geneva, where he learned English and French. (His mother was alone in Moscow when she died in 2002.) |
| Kim Jong-il would later begin a relationship with Ko Young-hee, a star of Pyongyang’s premier opera, who gave birth to Kim Jong-chol and then Kim Jong-un. According to a Japanese sushi chef who published a memoir in 2003 about his experience working for the Kim family, Kim Jong-un was by that time the father’s favorite. | Kim Jong-il would later begin a relationship with Ko Young-hee, a star of Pyongyang’s premier opera, who gave birth to Kim Jong-chol and then Kim Jong-un. According to a Japanese sushi chef who published a memoir in 2003 about his experience working for the Kim family, Kim Jong-un was by that time the father’s favorite. |
| Kim Jong-nam squandered what little chance he may have had to succeed his father when he embarrassed Pyongyang in 2001; he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport from the Dominican Republic. He told Japanese investigators that he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland. | Kim Jong-nam squandered what little chance he may have had to succeed his father when he embarrassed Pyongyang in 2001; he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport from the Dominican Republic. He told Japanese investigators that he wanted to visit Tokyo Disneyland. |
| But rumors of intrigue never left Mr. Kim, as analysts speculated that if the young, inexperienced Kim Jong-un fail to meet the expectations of hard-line generals in Pyongyang, they might summon home the eldest brother. In a way, Mr. Kim helped fuel such rumors. | But rumors of intrigue never left Mr. Kim, as analysts speculated that if the young, inexperienced Kim Jong-un fail to meet the expectations of hard-line generals in Pyongyang, they might summon home the eldest brother. In a way, Mr. Kim helped fuel such rumors. |
| In the 2012 book by the Japanese journalist, Mr. Kim called his younger brother “a figurehead.” | In the 2012 book by the Japanese journalist, Mr. Kim called his younger brother “a figurehead.” |
| “Without reforms and liberalization, the collapse of the economy is within sight,” he said. “I have my doubts about whether a person with only two years of grooming as a leader can govern.” | “Without reforms and liberalization, the collapse of the economy is within sight,” he said. “I have my doubts about whether a person with only two years of grooming as a leader can govern.” |