Kim ordered half-brother s killing: Seoul (Lead)

Seoul/Kuala Lumpur Feb 27 (IANS) Two North Korean ministries orchestrated the plot to kill Kim Jong-nam on the orders of Pyongyang s leader Kim Jong-un South Korea s spy agency said on Monday.

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) said four of the eight suspects behind the murder worked for Pyongyang s Ministry of State Security with two others being from the Foreign Ministry Yonhap reported.

The assassination of Kim Jong-nam was an act of systematic terror ordered by Kim Jong-un South Korean lawmaker Kim Byung-kee said in a televised address. The operation was conducted with two assassination groups and one supporting group.

The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un died earlier this month after a suspected poisoning while on his way to catch a flight to Macau from Kuala Lumpur Airport. Malaysia said an autopsy showed he was poisoned with VX nerve agent and died within 20 minutes.

Seoul s Unification Ministry slammed Pyongyang for using VX nerve agent which is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations.

We strongly condemned North Korea for using a chemical weapon against a civilian Jeong Joon-hee a ministry spokesman told a press briefing. The government plans to take joint actions against Pyongyang with the international community.

Unification Minister Hong Yong-pyo said now is the time to make North Korea realise that it cannot sustain the regime with a reign of terror.

Meanwhile Malaysia has requested the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur allow a diplomat and an airline employee to cooperate in a probe into the death of Kim Jong-nam the news agency reported.

The Malaysian police said last week that Hyon Kwang-song the second secretary at the embassy and Kim Uk-il an employee at Air Koryo the country s flag carrier are suspected of being involved in the killing of Kim on February 13.

Malaysia s Foreign Ministry is believed to have sent an official document requesting the North Korean mission to cooperate in the investigation as Hyon and Kim are wanted for questioning Yonhap said.

--IANS
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