A CCTV footage shows Kim Jong-nam being attacked with poison. [Yonhap Photo]
North Korea fired a broadside at Malaysia at the risk of a diplomatic war over the apparent assassination of leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother, accusing the Southeast Asian country of dancing to South Korea's tune.
In its first official reaction to an investigation in Malaysia, Pyongyang used a government-controlled committee of lawyers to shift the blame on to South Korea and warned it would not tolerate "any attempt to hurt the image of a nuclear power".
Pyongyang repeated earlier accusations made by North Korea's ambassador in Kuala Lumpur that Malaysia pushed ahead with an autopsy, refusing to turn over the body of a North Korean citizen carrying a diplomatic passport.
"This is an outright conspiracy" by the government of South Korea's suspended President Park Geun-hye to divert international attention from a corruption scandal, the committee said in a statement published through Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
The argument came as a diplomatic dispute between North Korea and Malaysia escalated over the killing of Kim Jong-nam who was attacked on February 13 as he waited for a flight to Macau.
Malaysian investigators said five North Koreans were involved in Kim's assassination, including a diplomat from the North's embassy and a North Koran airline employee. Three more were wanted for questioning while two South East Asian helpers have been arrested.
Citing the Vienna Convention, the committee slammed Malaysia for violating North Korea's sovereignty and human rights by pushing ahead with an autopsy opposed by its embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
The "unfair" investigation has been done in accordance with a conspiratorial racket launched by Seoul, the North said, calling for a joint probe by North Korean jurists and Malaysian police.
"This demonstrates (Malaysia's) impure purpose to politicize the transfer of the body," it said, condemning Malaysia for spreading a false argument that North Korea was behind the killing of its citizen.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has expressed displeasure at a "rude" attitude taken by North Korea's top envoy Kang Chol, vowing to continue its investigation. Ri Jong-chol, a 46-year-old North Korean man, has been arrested, though four other North Korean suspects reportedly fled to Pyongyang.
"We hope that the embassy will cooperate with us and allow us to interview them quickly. If not, we will compel them to come to us," Malaysian police Chief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters Wednesday.
He said that the two jailed female suspects -- one from Vietnam and the other from Indonesia -- were aware that they took part in the attack and used their bare hands to wipe the toxic substance on his face.
The female suspects claimed that they were deceived into thinking they were part of a comedy TV show. Khalid said that no family member of the murdered Kim has yet to come forward to claim his body.
In Seoul, Vice Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam told a parliamentary committee that South Korea would step up a diplomatic campaign to expose the "cruel and violent nature" of the North Korean regime.
South Korea's intelligence chief Lee Byung-ho has said the daylight murder at a crowded airport in Malaysia represents the "paranoid" personality of Kim Jong-un.
"The assassination of Kim Jong-nam has been a standing order since Kim Jong-un took power," Lee said, adding Kim Jong-nam had been in exile with his family especially since the death of his father in late 2011.
Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
![[PROFILE] Half-brother of N. Korean leader lived in exile to avoid assassination attempt](https://image.ajunews.com/content/image/2017/02/14/20170214231020246195.jpg)
