The Accidental Assassination of Kim Jong-nam

GQ looks at the untold story of the women behind his murder of Kim Jong-un's brother.

September 25, 2017 10:37 am

On February 13, 2017, two beautiful young women murdered Kim Jong-nam in a Malaysian airport. Originally, as the firstborn child, Jong-nam was supposed to take over his father, the dictator of North Korea’s office, if he had not been usurped by his brother, Kim Jong-un. But in February, Jong-nam was just another “overweight 45-year-old” with a bald spot, walking through the airport.

The two women separately came up behind him, wiping some sort of oil across his face and apologizing before running off. The liquid applied was VX, which the CDC calls the “most potent of all nerve agents” and is classified by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction. He died 15 minutes after the poisoning.

In this Thursday, April 13, 2017 photo, Indonesian suspect Siti Aisyah, center, arrested in the death of Kim Jong Nam, is escorted by police officers as she leaves a court house in Sepang, Malaysia.
In this Thursday, April 13, 2017 photo, Indonesian suspect Siti Aisyah, center, arrested in the death of Kim Jong Nam, is escorted by police officers as she leaves a court house in Sepang, Malaysia. Malaysian authorities said two women swiped Kim’s face with VX nerve agent as he waited in Kuala Lumpur airport for a flight home to Macau in February. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian, File)
AP

Now, a new GQ article looks into the women who killed Jong-nam, who had a direct path towards ruling North Korea. He had bodyguards and servants and lived in a mansion. But his brother was ruthless. Jong-un had his uncle and mentor killed, aggressively developed nuclear missiles that could strike America, and executed disloyal officials. Jong-nam lacked the “killer instincts necessary to run a dictatorship,” according to the GQ piece.

But the people who didn’t know what was coming were the very girls who carried out the attack. The women, a 25-year-old from Indonesia named Siti Aisyah and a 29-year-old from Vietnam named Doan Thi Huong, were arrested after the attack. They were easily tracked through airport CCTV footage. They were both adamant that they never meant to hurt anyone, they thought they were pulling a prank. They are both currently facing death by hanging if found guilty.

The GQ piece looks mainly at Siti, who became a prostitute in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She was born in Ranca Sumur, and only went to school until sixth grade. She worked in a sweatshop in Jakarta when she was 14 years old and was married by 16. She got divorced in 2012, and has one son. She returned to Kuala Lumpur and started working as a prostitute.

GQ writes that two days after the attack, it was discovered seven North Koreans had been involved in orchestrating the murder. These men recruited Siti, and told her it was a prank. They paid her a lot of money, which she needed to support her son and family. She had dreams of building a house they could all live in. The men took her on practice runs, telling her to run up to people and smear oil or hot sauce on their face. Ultimately, her last “prank” was on Jong-nam.

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