It was just before 9:00 a.m. at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2, a busy terminal mostly used for budget flights. A portly man in a blazer, carrying a backpack and traveling under the name "Kim Chol," stood near a self-check-in kiosk. Within twenty minutes, he’d be dead. This wasn't a heart attack or a sudden stroke, though that’s what North Korean officials later tried to claim. It was one of the most brazen political hits of the 21st century.
The assassination of Kim Jong Nam basically felt like a scene from a Cold War spy flick, but it played out in high-definition on airport security cameras. Honestly, the details are still hard to wrap your head around. You’ve got a North Korean prince in exile, two young women who thought they were filming a YouTube prank, and a chemical weapon so toxic it’s classified by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction.
The "Prunk" That Turned Deadly
Imagine you’re Siti Aisyah, a 25-year-old from Indonesia, or Doan Thi Huong, a 28-year-old from Vietnam. You’re looking for a break in the entertainment industry. Some guys approach you and offer you a few bucks—about $90—to play a joke on people in public. The "game" is simple: run up to a stranger, smear some lotion or oil on their face, and run away. You've done it before at malls and other spots.
That morning, the target was Kim Jong Nam.
The women approached him from different sides. One smeared a liquid on his face, while the other covered his mouth with a cloth. It looked messy and amateurish. But the "lotion" wasn't oil. It was VX nerve agent.
💡 You might also like: Blanket Primary Explained: Why This Voting System Is So Controversial
Why VX?
VX is a nasty piece of work. It’s an organophosphate, which is basically a super-powered version of a pesticide. It’s amber-colored, odorless, and has the consistency of motor oil.
It works by turning off the "off switch" for your muscles and glands. Once it hits your system, your nerves keep firing signals without stopping. Your muscles go into overdrive, your lungs tighten, and eventually, you stop breathing. Experts believe the hit squad used a "binary" version of the poison. This means the two women likely carried different, non-lethal components on their hands and mixed them right on Kim’s skin. It’s the only way they could have survived the encounter without dropping dead themselves.
The Victim: A Prince Who Knew Too Much
Kim Jong Nam was the eldest son of Kim Jong Il. In any other dynasty, he would have been the king. But he fell out of favor, famously getting caught trying to visit Tokyo Disneyland on a fake passport in 2001. After that, he lived a nomadic life in Macau, Singapore, and Malaysia.
He wasn't exactly a revolutionary, but he was a loose cannon. He’d talked to Japanese journalists about how his younger half-brother, Kim Jong Un, lacked leadership experience. He reportedly called the regime a "joke" to some. More dangerously, reports surfaced later suggesting he might have been a CIA informant. Whether he was actually plotting a coup or just living a playboy lifestyle didn't really matter. In the eyes of Pyongyang, he was a potential rival who could be used by China or the West to replace the current leadership.
📖 Related: Asiana Flight 214: What Really Happened During the South Korean Air Crash in San Francisco
The Great Escape
While Kim Jong Nam was staggering toward the airport clinic, sweating and losing consciousness, the masterminds were already checking in for their flights.
Malaysian police eventually identified four North Korean men—Ri Ji-hyon, Hong Song-hac, O Jong-gil, and Ri Jae-nam—who had arrived in Malaysia in the weeks leading up to the hit. They watched the whole thing from a nearby restaurant. As soon as the poison was applied, they headed straight for the departure gates. They were back in Pyongyang before the toxicology reports even came back.
- Ri Jong Chol: A North Korean chemist living in Kuala Lumpur. He was arrested but later released for "lack of evidence" and deported.
- Hyon Kwang-song: A high-ranking official at the North Korean embassy who was suspected of helping the team escape.
- Kim Uk-il: An employee for Air Koryo (the North Korean state airline) who also sought refuge in the embassy.
The diplomatic standoff was intense. North Korea basically held Malaysian citizens in Pyongyang hostage to force Malaysia to return Kim’s body and let the remaining suspects go. It worked.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Trial
For two years, Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong were the only ones facing the gallows. The Malaysian government was in a tough spot. They had the "assassins" on camera, but it was becoming glaringly obvious these women were pawns.
👉 See also: 2024 Presidential Election Map Live: What Most People Get Wrong
Siti Aisyah was released in March 2019 after the prosecution dropped the charges without a clear explanation—likely due to intense lobbying from the Indonesian government. Huong, feeling abandoned, eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of "causing hurt by dangerous weapons." She was released a few months later.
Basically, the actual killers got away scott-free, and the "pranksters" became the face of the crime.
The Aftermath and Your Next Steps
The assassination of Kim Jong Nam changed how the world looks at North Korea’s reach. It showed they weren't afraid to use a chemical weapon in a crowded international terminal.
If you want to understand the current geopolitical tension in Southeast Asia or the inner workings of the Kim dynasty, this event is the key. To stay informed and protect your own digital or physical security when traveling in sensitive regions, consider these steps:
- Monitor Travel Advisories: Even years later, diplomatic relations between Malaysia and North Korea are shaky. Always check the State Department or your local foreign office for "tit-for-tat" visa changes.
- Audit Your Sources: When reading about North Korean defectors or family members, cross-reference reports from South Korean intelligence (NIS) with independent journalists like those at NK News.
- Documentary Deep Dive: If you want to see the actual CCTV footage and hear from the women themselves, watch the documentary Assassins (2020) by Ryan White. It’s probably the most thorough look at the "prank" defense.
The case is technically "closed" in the eyes of Malaysian law, but the mystery of how a regime can pull off a chemical weapon attack in broad daylight and face almost no long-term consequences remains a chilling reality of modern politics.