Japan’s Asahi Shimbun says the North Korean men who were behind the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, were initially planning to carry out the murder in early February in Macao where Kim and his family were residing.
 
The daily said the latest revelation came from a testimony by Siti Aishah, an Indonesian woman who has been indicted on charges of murder by Malaysian authorities with regard to Kim’s assassination.
 
The daily revealed the matter as it quoted an Indonesian government official who is assisting activities to defend Aishah.
 
Aishah and a Vietnamese woman named Doan Thi Huong, who also has been indicted on charges of murder, are believed to have taken part in Kim’s assassination after being tricked by North Korean men to believe they were taking part in a TV prank show.
 
Aishah is said to have testified that Hong Song-hak, who works for the North’s Foreign Ministry and who is assessed to be one of the North Koreans behind Kim’s murder, told her in late January that the TV show would be shot in Macao between February ninth and 19th. Aishah said that Hong notified her a few days before the date for filming that the producer had changed the site for shooting the show from Macao to Kuala Lumpur.
 
Kim Jong-nam entered Kuala Lumpur from Macao on February sixth. He was assassinated at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13th as he was trying to return to Macao.
 
The Indonesian government official said that the North is likely to have changed the venue to kill Kim after learning of Kim’s trip to Malaysia.

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