North Korean Embassy Official Seeks Reason For Citizen's Detention

SEPANG, Feb 25 (Bernama) -- A North Korean embassy official today claimed that the mission had no knowledge of the reason for one of its citizens to have been placed in police custody. Counsellor Jim Yu-song spoke to reporters here Fridy after going to the Sepang Police headquarters in a vain attempt to meet the North Korean national Ri Yong Chol. Yu-song, who was seen entering the police compound at 4.15pm and leaving 15 minutes later, said he was there to meet the police officer in-charge to find out why the North Korean national was being detained. "Our embassy bears the responsibility to protect the interests and rights of our citizens ... until now we don't have the reason for his custody. "So, we are here again to ask the police why they are detaining our citizen for seven days without any reason ... but we regret because they (the police) are out to attend a meeting in Shah Alam, Selangor," he said to reporters before leaving. When asked if the embassy had made any request to meet the police or officer in charge of that case, the counsellor said: "No". "But, we hope Malaysian police in accordance with the bilateral relations between the two countries will cooperate with the embassy," he said. Ri Jong Chol has been detained together with three others in connection with the murder of North Korean Kim Jong-nam. Jong-nam, estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was at the KL International Airport 2 (klia2) at 8am on Feb 13 to board a flight to Macau an hour later when two women suddenly appeared before him and wiped his face with the palms of their hands which contained a poisonous liquid. Jong-nam, who travelled with a passport bearing the name Kim Chol, sought help at a customer service counter at the airport and was rushed to the Putrajaya Hospital but died on the way. -- BERNAMA