Efforts to get Kim Jong-nam's family to safety after Malaysia murder

Kim Jong-nam's family contacted the Cheollima group directly and was taken to a secret location by the group.

Kim Jong-nam, brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Photo: AFP.

When a North Korean citizen suspected to be Kim Jong-nam, the exiled brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, died of poisoning at a Malaysian airport on February 13, some feared for the safety of Kim Jong-nam's family, especially his 21-year-old son Kim Han-sol.

Cheollima Civil Defense, a group protesting the North Korean regime, later took Kim Han Sol, his mother and sister from their home in Macau and to safety. (Cheollima is a winged horse in Korean mythology that symbolizes rapid development.)

“Some parties tried to interfere” with the evacuation, a representative of the Cheollima group told the WSJ. Cheollima agreed to discuss some details of the family’s resettlement because it hopes to seek international assistance for other cases in the future.

“We were disappointed when some countries refused to help earlier this year,” the person said.

Cheollima has asked foreign governments for help in getting Kim Han-sol to safety. The group said the United States, China and the Netherlands assisted with travel, visas and other aspects of the plan. China's Foreign Ministry said it had no information about the matter. The Netherlands and the United States declined to comment.

Other countries have declined to assist, including Canada, because they need to negotiate with North Korea to free a Canadian pastor detained in North Korea, according to a source familiar with the decision.

Canada declined to comment on the matter, saying the release of Pastor Lim Hyeon-soo in August was the result of diplomatic measures.

Cheollima representatives said Kim Jong-nam's family had contacted the group directly after the murder. They had lived outside North Korea for years but felt threatened because many knew they lived in Macau. Kim Han-sol had criticized the North Korean government in a 2012 Finnish television interview.

"I always dreamed that one day I would return to my country and make things better," Kim Han-sol said in an interview while studying at an international school in Bosnia.

Kim Han-sol's family first flew to Taipei, where they spent 30 hours in the airport getting their travel arrangements and visas for their final destination confirmed, a source said. Cheollima declined to confirm the itinerary and would not say where the family was going.

On March 7, the group released a video showing Kim Han-sol holding up his passport and confirming that he, his mother and sister were safe.

Cheollima is one of several groups that help people trying to escape the Kim Jong-un regime. Representatives said the group includes North Koreans inside and outside the country.

The WSJ spoke with diplomats, a North Korean defector and a human rights worker in Europe who helped Cheollima evacuate his family to learn more about the group.

The defector was not a member of the group but said Cheollima was a small, well-connected organization that helped North Koreans escape the country through China and into Southeast Asia.

Two Western diplomats said Cheollima was a trusted name for helping North Koreans defect. Human rights workers confirmed the group had North Korean members and good relationships with foreign governments.

"They acted very quickly," he said.

According to VNE