North Korean official at Immigration office, apparently over deportation process

A North Korean embassy official came to the Immigration Department headquarters here today, apparently over matters pertaining to the deportation of a North Korean man.

Kim Yu Song, counsellor at the embassy, came to the office at 10.10am and left about two hours later, but refused to say anything else but "no comment" to the pestering reporters who had waited long in the compound of the Immigration Department office.

North Korean Ri Jong Chol, 47, who had been under remand since Feb 18 over the investigation into the murder of North Korean Kim Chol, was to be deported today due to insufficient evidence to prosecute him.

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Kim Chol, whom the authorities have established as Kim Jong Nam - estranged elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was killed on Feb 13 at the KL International Airport 2.

Jong Chol was brought to the Immigration Department headquarters at 9.20am for the deportation documentation process. He was spotted wearing a bullet-proof vest and was under heavy police guard.

It had been reported earlier that Kim Chol or Jong Nam was at klia2 at 8am on Feb 13 to board a flight to Macau an hour later when two women suddenly appeared before him and allegedly wiped his face with the palms of their hands which contained what was later identified as the VX nerve agent.

Jong Nam reportedly sought help at a customer service counter at the airport and was rushed to the Putrajaya Hospital but died on the way. He had come to Malaysia on Feb 6.

Last Wednesday, Indonesian woman Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese woman Doan Thi Huong, 29, were charged in the Sepang Magistrate's Court with the murder of Kim Chol. It had been reported earlier that Kim Chol or Jong-nam was at klia2 at 8am on Feb 13 to board a flight to Macau an hour later when two women suddenly appeared before him and allegedly wiped his face with the palms of their hands which contained what was later identified as the VX nerve agent.

Jong Nam reportedly sought help at a customer service counter at the airport and was rushed to the Putrajaya Hospital but died on the way. He had come to Malaysia on Feb 6.

Last Wednesday, Indonesian woman Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese woman Doan Thi Huong, 29, were charged in the Sepang Magistrate's Court with the murder of Kim Chol. - BERNAMA