How was suspect Siti fooled in the Kim Jong-nam case?

Channel NewsAsia broadcast a report this morning (March 19) detailing how the Indonesian girl was recruited. This method may have been applied to Doan Thi Huong.

Defendant Siti Aisyah leaves court in Sepang on March 1 after hearing the indictment charging her with murder. Photo: Reuters.

At a bar with young girls in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, just steps away from the famous Petronas Twin Towers, is the Beach Club.

This is where Indonesian Siti Aisyah was introduced to a North Korean man named James.

According to CNA, Siti was described by her colleagues as shy but quite attractive to the opposite sex. Previously, Siti worked as a masseuse at a spa in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur.

Siti and James met several times before she was lured by James to participate in a reality TV show.

According to the story, James did not speak English well. But with a limited vocabulary, James was still able to train Siti to play pranks on strangers on the crowded streets of Kuala Lumpur, at shopping malls, train stations and hotels.

They performed the prank more than 10 times together and Siti was paid $100 to $150 each time, depending on the effectiveness of the prank.

According to colleagues, Siti was fascinated by James because he was young, handsome and generous.

The area with the bar where Siti worked and first met James. Photo: CNA.

However, during their time together, Siti took a picture of him with her phone. Thanks to that, the Malaysian police were able to see James's picture when they seized Siti's phone.

From this photo, police confirmed that James was Ri Ji-u, 30 years old, the youngest of eight North Korean men that Malaysian police said were involved in the murder of Kim Chol - Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

According to Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar, James is currently hiding in the North Korean Embassy building in Kuala Lumpur with the embassy's second secretary Hyon Kwang-song and Kim Uk-il - an employee of Air Koryo.

Mr. Khalid Abu Bakar - Chief of the Royal Malaysian Police - talks about the case of North Korean suspect Ri Ji-u, at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur - Photo: AFP

According to sources familiar with the investigation, James once took Siti to the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to meet his commander. When they met Siti, he introduced himself as a Chinese man named "Chang."

This information is quite consistent with the information published by the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun on March 17, stating that two female suspects in the murder of Mr. Kim Jong-nam once said that they thought they were participating in a reality TV show.

Both Doan Thi Huong and Siti Aisyah said they had committed similar acts to Kim Jong-nam three times before in Cambodia.

The Cambodia Daily also quoted hotel employee Long Panha of V Hotel Phnom Penh saying he recognized Doan Thi Huong from media reports.

According to CNA, Mr. Chang was fluent in both Mandarin and Indonesian. He gave Siti an ointment and told her to apply it to the face of her next “prank” target.

Hang Song-hac, aka "Mr. Chang" was caught on surveillance camera at Kuala Lumpur airport at the time of Kim Chol's murder - Screenshot

When Siti and James returned to Kuala Lumpur, they practiced several more times before Siti and Doan Thi Huong attacked Kim Chol on February 13 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

According to CNA, the night before the attack, Siti had happily celebrated her 26th birthday with her “boyfriend” James and his friends. During the party, the group of men boasted that Siti had quickly become a superstar in South Korea.

A source close to the Malaysian police investigation told CNA that “Chang” was later identified by police as Hang Song-hac, 32.

He is one of four North Korean suspects believed to be the masterminds of the assassination of Kim Chol. Surveillance cameras at Kuala Lumpur International Airport recorded images of the group boarding a flight to Jakarta, Indonesia, on the same day of the attack.

Kim Chol died on the way to the hospital, just 20 minutes after the two girls sprayed the liquid in his face. Malaysian forensics later confirmed that they found traces of the highly toxic substance VX on the victim's face.

Malaysian police have asked Interpol for help in tracking down four North Korean suspects, including Hang Song-hac. Interpol has issued a red notice and thus Interpol agencies in member countries, including China, are tasked with tracking down, arresting and extraditing the four suspects to Malaysia to face justice.

According to Tuoi Tre

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