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Half-brother of Kim Jong Un reportedly killed in Malaysia

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SEOUL: The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been assassinated in Malaysia, South Korean media reported yesterday.

One television station said he was attacked at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) with poisoned needles.

"The incident took place yesterday afternoon at KLIA 2," a senior police source was quoted as saying.

But a source close to the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's office told the BBC Mr Kim was killed in the city, saying his body was now undergoing an autopsy.

Mr Kim Jong Nam's case is the highest-profile death under the current regime since the execution of the leader's uncle, Mr Jang Song Thaek, in December 2013.

FEMALE AGENTS

Mr Kim, 45, was poisoned by two unidentified female agents, according to South Korean broadcaster TV Chosun.

The report, citing what it called multiple government sources, said the two women hailed a cab and fled immediately afterwards.

The police chief in charge of KLIA, Assistant Commissioner Abdul Aziz Ali, told AFP a Korean in his 40s was found sick at the airport on Monday.

Airport authorities rushed him to the hospital and he died on the way, ACP Abdul said.

Mr Kim was once considered heir apparent, but he fell out of favour with his father, Mr Kim Jong Il, following an embarrassing botched attempt in 2001 to enter Japan on a forged passport and visit Disneyland.- AFP.

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