Murdered brother of North Korea tyrant Kim Jong-un ‘was carrying an antidote to the drug that killed him’
THE murdered brother of North Korea tyrant Kim Jong-un’s was carrying an antidote to the drug that killed him, a court heard yesterday.
The drugs could have saved the half-brother of tyrant Kim Jong-un from the banned nerve agent rubbed into his face by two women assassins.
But Kim Jong-nam, 45, left it in his bag after.
It was unclear why he did not reach for it. He had been living in exile after falling out with half-brother Jong-un.
Jong-nam died on the way to hospital from Kuala Lumpur Airport, a court in the Malaysian capital heard.
Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 29, are accused of conspiring with four North Koreans in the February murder. Case resumes next month.
Prosecutors say they smeared colourless and odourless VX on their victim's face, but they say they thought they were taking part in a TV prank.
A court in the Malaysian capital was told yesterday that Jong-nam, 45, had a dozen vials of atropine, an antidote for poisons such as the VX that killed him.
But he never touched the drugs and stumbled into a clinic at the airport and begging for help instead.
A doctor who gave evidence in court earlier, said that a nurse had wiped an "odourless water-like" fluid from his face as his blood pressure had hit a "life-threatening level".
He then collapsed with a seizure and died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.
Playboy Jong-nam’s organs, including his brain, lungs, liver and spleen, were all damaged by the lethal poison.
His brother Jong-un - whose isolated Stalinist regime has stockpiles of the weapon - has denied any involvement in the murder.
But the 33-year-old despot if believed to have ordered the killing after his big brother criticised his harsh rule while in exile in Macau.
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When the case resumes in January, defence lawyers are expected to cross examine the chief police investigator over the role of North Korean chemist Ri Jong Chol.
Ri was said to be a key suspect but was released due to lack of evidence and deported.
Four North Koreans boarded planes and fled the airport soon after the attack.