Kim Jong-un's half-brother reportedly killed in Malaysia

Kim Jong-nam, formerly heir apparent until he fell out of favour with his father, was based mostly outside North Korea



The estranged half-brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been killed in Malaysia, a South Korean government source has told Reuters.

Kim Jong-nam, who was older than Kim Jong-un, was based mostly outside of his home country.

Police in Malaysia told Reuters on Tuesday an unidentified North Korean man had died en route to hospital from Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday.

Abdul Aziz Ali, the Sepang district police chief, said the man’s identity had not been verified.

An employee at Putrajaya hospital said a deceased Korean man born in 1970 with the surname Kim had been admitted to the emergency department.

TV Chosun, a South Korean cable television network, said Kim Jong-nam was poisoned at Kuala Lumpur airport by two women believed to be North Korean operatives, who were still at large, citing multiple South Korean government sources.

The South Korean source who spoke to Reuters did not immediately provide further details.

The foreign ministry said it could not confirm the reports, and the intelligence agency could not immediately be reached for comment.

Kim Jong-nam was once considered heir apparent but fell out of favour with his father Kim Jong-il after a botched attempt in 2001 to enter Japan on a forged passport to visit Disneyland. He has since lived in virtual exile, mainly in the Chinese territory of Macau.

Kim Jong-un took over as supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea when his father died in December 2011.

Kim Jong-nam, known as an advocate of reform, once told a Japanese newspaper that he opposed his country’s dynastic power transfers.

If confirmed, Kim Jong-nam’s case would be the highest-profile death under the Kim Jong-un regime since the execution of the leader’s uncle, Jang Song-thaek, in December 2013.

More details soon …