North Korean embassy official among suspects in Kim Jong Nam murder: Malaysia

Malaysian police identified a senior official in the North Korean embassy on Wednesday as a suspect in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, and said another was linked to the North Korean airline.

Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said both suspects are still in Malaysia and have been called in for questioning. He said North Korean diplomat held the rank of second secretary at the embassy.

Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was killed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport last week while he was preparing to board a flight to Macau.

Khalid told a news conference that police "strongly believed" four other suspects who fled Malaysia on February 13, the day of the attack, had arrived in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

Kim Jong Nam had spoken out publicly against his family's dynastic control of the isolated state and was estranged from the young North Korean leader. "If the murder of Kim Jong Nam was confirmed to be committed by the North Korean regime, that would clearly depict the brutality and inhumanity of the Kim Jong Un regime," South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the country's acting president, told a security council meeting.

South Korea is acutely sensitive to any sign of potential instability in North Korea, and is still technically in a state of war with its impoverished and nuclear-armed neighbour.

Malaysian police said the dead man, 46, held a passport under the name Kim Chol. Kim Jong Nam was known to spend a significant amount of time outside North Korea, and has been caught in the past using forged travel documents.