M'sian travel agents unfamiliar with North Korean suspect

Several Malaysian travel agents selling flight tickets to North Korea say they have not heard or met anyone from North Korea named Kim Uk-il.

Earlier, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had identified an Air Koryo employee, Uk-il, 37, as one of the suspects behind the high-profile murder of Kim Jong-nam, the elder half-brother of North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

"We have never liaised with anyone from North Korea and therefore, not familiar with the name," said a female ticketing department personnel at a Kuala Lumpur-based travel agency when contacted by Bernama here today.

Khalid said Uk-il and one other suspect, Hyon Kwang-song, 44, who was identified as Second Secretary at the North Korean Embassy in Malaysia, were believed to be still in the country.

Air Koryo is the state-owned national flag carrier airline of North Korea and is headquartered in Sunan-guyok, Pyongyang.

Based at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport, it operates international scheduled and charter services to points in Asia such as Beijing and Shenyang in China.

Air Koryo used to fly twice weekly to Kuala Lumpur from Pyongyang, on Mondays and Thursdays, utilising a TU-204 Next Generation Tupolev type of aircraft, with a 142 seating capacity.

Local media reported that Air Koryo made its maiden landing at the KL International Airport (KLIA) on April 18, 2011.

However, a spokesman from KLIA confirmed that the airport no longer served Air Koryo as the service was terminated.

Apart from that, according to an accredited Malaysian travel agent here that is listed on the North Korea Tourism website, Air Koryo has no office in Malaysia.

"Air Koryo does not have an office in Malaysia but tickets for indirect flights to Pyongyang can be obtained from our company," said a ticketing department staff of the aforementioned travel agent.

Another listed travel agent said in order to reach Pyongyang, passengers from Kuala Lumpur needed to transit in China first before taking a charter flight with Air Koryo to Pyongyang.

Jong-nam died on Feb 13 while on the way to the Putrajaya Hospital.

Earlier that day, he was at the KL International Airport 2 (klia2) about 8am, waiting for his flight to Macau when a woman suddenly covered his face with a cloth laced with what was believed to be poison.

He had come to Malaysia on Feb 6 and carried a passport bearing the name of Kim Chol. - BERNAMA