Malaysia: Kim Jong-nam murder suspect seen playing snooker in North Korean embassy

Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police says the police are aware of the identities of those who are still in the embassy.

A suspect, who is wanted by Malaysian police in connection with the murder of Kim Jong-nam has reportedly been seen playing snooker in the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur in a video aired by Japan's All-Nippon News Network. The video showed a man resembling Kim Uk-il playing the game with few others on the second floor of the embassy, reported the Malaysian National News Agency, Bernama.

The 37-year-old Kim is an employee with North Korean carrier Air Koryo. The Malaysian police issued a warrant for his arrest earlier this month. Apart from him, the police are also searching for two other suspects: Kwang Hyon-song and Ri Ji-u. Kwang Hyon-song, the embassy's second secretary, is believed to be hiding within the embassy building.

READ: YouTube video of Kim Jong Nam's son emerges amid murder probe

Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police, said the police are aware of the identities of those who are still in the embassy. During a press conference on Mar 23, he said: "We know who is inside".

According to Bernama, the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) had issued a Red Notice, the closest instrument to an international arrest warrant, for the arrest of four other North Korean suspects. The four are Ri Ji-hyon, 33, Hong Song-hac, 34, O Jong-gil, 55, and Ri Jae-nam, 57. Reports suggest that they had entered Malaysia before Feb 13 separately and fled the country soon after the murder.

Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was assassinated by two foreign women who smeared VX nerve agent, a chemical listed by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction, on his face at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 departure hall at about 9 am on 13 February before his flight to Macau.

Two women, Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong and Indonesian Siti Aisyah, have been charged with the murder so far. But they claim they were told that the act was a prank on a reality show.

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