Tag: Assassination

Assassination of Kim Han Sol, Son of Kim Jong Nam: Plot Foiled

According to Korea Joongang Daily (JoongAng Ilbo), China has arrested would-be assassins of Kim Han Sol, the 22 year old son of recently assassinated Kim Jong Nam. Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un, was assassinated on February 13, 2017 in the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Airport through the use of a VX nerve agent, considered to be a weapon of mass destruction. Kim Han Sol is the nephew of Kim Jong Un.

For current updates on the assassination trial of Kim Jong Nam, see

Assassination of Kim Jong Nam Trial: What We Know So Far

According to the the South Korean daily, seven North Korean spies were secretly dispatched to China on a mission to kill Kim Han Sol. Chinese authorities have two of these spies in custody and is questioning them in Beijing. The anonymous source said that North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau recently sent the team to Beijing — apparently without China’s knowledge — to search for the 22-year-old nephew of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and kill him. Officials from China’s Ministry of State Security apprehended two of the spies, but the whereabouts of the other five suspects are not currently known.

Kim Han Sol is the son of Ri Hye Kyong and the now deceased Kim Jong Nam. They also have a younger daughter. The family had been living in Macau until the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, when the family went into hiding.

Kim Han Sol made a statement in March 2017 in a YouTube Video uploaded by a group named Cheollima Civil Defense.

In a statement on the Cheollima Civil Defense website the organization said the following:

“Cheollima Civil Defense responded last month to an emergency request by survivors of the family of Kim Jong Nam for extraction and protection. The three family members were met quickly and relocated to safety. We have in the past addressed other urgent needs for protection. This will be the first and last statement on this particular matter, and the present whereabouts of this family will not be addressed.

We publicly express our gratitude for the emergency humanitarian assistance afforded to us in protecting this family by the governments of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the People’s Republic of China, the United States of America, and a fourth government to remain unnamed. We also recognize our colleagues who remain in the North or within its system who provide critical assistance in extracting such individuals.

In particular, we recognize Ambassador A.J.A. Embrechts, representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, for his timely and strong response to our sudden request for assistance. Ambassador Embrechts is a credit to the people of the Netherlands and their long and principled stance for human rights and humanitarian norms.

We regret that several nations refused assistance to this family in this particular apolitical, humanitarian emergency. We, and those we aid, recognize with gratitude all who stand with us on the right side of history.”

천리마민방위 | Cheollima Civil Defense

www.cheollimacivildefense.org

Assassination of Kim Jong Nam Trial: What We Know So Far

The Kim Jong Nam murder trial began on October 2, 2017 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is currently in recess until November 6, 2017. Here’s what we know so far:

Kim Jong Nam was the older half-brother of North Korea Kim Jong Un. They shared the same father.

Kim Jong Nam was assassinated on February 13, 2017 at the Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia. His assassination was caught on surveillance cameras.

In the video, Kim Jong Nam is approached from behind by a woman who smears something onto his face, particularly in the area of his eyes. A second woman then repeats the process. The women each go to separate restrooms and wash their hands and then leave the airport without incident.

Kim Jong Nam gestures for help from airport security and is escorted to a medical area of the airport. He is medically distressed and is transported to a hospital but pronounced dead at the hospital. (Initial reports said he was dead within 20 minutes, but the trial account says it was approximately 2 hours before death occurred.)

The chemicals are later determined to be a VX nerve agent classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations.

The women are identified via video surveillance and are arrested within a few days of the incident. They claim they thought they were part of a prank for a reality TV show and did not know the chemicals were lethal. Both women claimed they were directed by four men known only by nicknames.

The women have been charged with murder and face death by hanging if it convicted.

This combination of file handout pictures released by the Royal Malaysian Police in Kuala Lumpur shows suspects Doan Thi Huong of Vietnam, left, and Siti Ashyah of Indonesia, right, who were detained in connection to the Feb. 13, 2017, assassination of Kim Jong-Nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. (AFP/Getty Images)

The women face death by hanging if convicted.

TRIAL HIGHLIGHTS THROUGH 10.26.17

The accused are Indonesian citizen Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese citizen Doan Thi Huong, 29.

Murder occurred at 9 am while Nam waited near the check-in counter in the departure hall at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. He was travelling alone.

Nam was carrying a passport that said his name was Kim Jong Chol, which is the name of Kim Jong Un’s younger brother.

See More about Kim Jong Chol, Eric Clapton Super Fan at:

https://skepticreview.com/2017/10/27/eric-clapton-super-fan-kim-jong-chol/ 

The North Korean government requested that no autopsy be performed on the body. The attorney general’s office in Kuala Lumpur overruled the request and the autopsy was performed on February 15. No next of kin was available to identify the body and North Korea officially denied the dead man was Kim Jong Nam, insisting instead it was actually the Kim Jong Chol identified by the passport. Through a secret process, DNA was obtained from Kim Jong Nam’s son and the body was confirmed to be that of Kim Jong Nam. (Kim Jong Nam’s family is now in hiding.)

The autopsy confirmed acute VX nerve agent poisoning. Nam’s body was released to the North Korean embassy under pressure. Malaysian and North Korean relations are now very tense.

The trial was briefly moved to a lab to safely view VX stained clothing belonging to both the victim and the suspects.

Next, video footage showed Kim Jong Nam after the attack in distress, escorted to an onsite medical clinic, walking first and then staggering, and on a stretcher being wheeled to an ambulance.

Video also showed the two suspects fleeing the scene after washing their hands.

It was revealed that Kim Jong Nam had $100,000 in cash on him when he died.

Each woman’s lawyer was hired by her own country and blame NK for the attack, insisting women are just dupes.

Police revealed that Huong had done a practice “prank” at the airport two days before.

About two weeks into the trial, the issue of the mystery men who are suspected of directing the two women began to unfold.

The men have only been named in court by the pseudonyms they gave to the women:

Mr.Y, seen walking with Doan into the airport and also seen pouring liquid into Doan’s hands.

Mr. Chang, seen with Siti Aisyah at a restaurant and also seen pouring liquid into her hands.

Hanamori, also known as Grandpa/Uncle, suspected of giving orders to Mr. Y and the apparent ringleader of the operation.

James who is suspected of recruiting Siti Aisyah.

(Although it has not yet been discussed in the trial, Interpol issued an international red warrant for Ri Ji Hyon, Hong Song Hac, O Joong Gil and Ri Jae Nam. These four are charged in the crime as well, a charge called “Common Intention,” but are considered to be “still at large.”)

On October 24, the trial moved to the scene of the crime. The overwrought suspects were transferred to wheelchairs and one was crying. They had to wear bullet proof vests and handcuffs.

A North Korea scientist named Ri Jong Chol has not been charged although he did own a car that took two of the men to the airport on the day of the crime. Due to “insufficient evidence” he was deported back to NK.

It was revealed Nam had a total of 4 passports all bearing the name  of Kim Chol.

The four wanted men all left Malaysia by air on the same day as the murder and video shows attempts to make changes to their appearances after visits to the restroom.

The trial resumes on November 6, 2017.

North Korea: The Death of Kim Jong-nam

PHOTO: Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has been assassinated in Malaysia, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said on February 14, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / TOSHIFUMI KITAMURATOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images

It’s a murder plot out of a spy novel. Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s unpredictable leader, was allegedly poisoned by two women assassins at Kuala Lumpur airport. All signs point to Kim Jong-un, the rogue state’s leader, as behind the murder.

101 East investigates the mysterious case, exploring the highly secretive and paranoid world of North Korea, where those who escape continue to live in fear of its reckless brutality. Given the most recent display of its missile tests, it’s a recklessness the rest of the world needs to heed.

This half-hour film by Mary Ann Jolley explains why Kim Jong-nam was assassinated and why he had likely been a target for a very long time. Also available on YouTube.

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/101east/2017/04/north-korea-death-kim-jong-nam-170427122806845.html

JFK Assassination Records Processing Project

Official portrait of John F. Kennedy by Aaron Shikler

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Commits to Processing the Withheld JFK Assassination Records by October 26, 2017

Background

When Congress passed the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act in 1992 agencies throughout the Federal Government transferred assassination-related records to the National Archives which established the JFK Assassination Records Collection. The Collection consists of approximately 5 million pages of records. Approximately 88% of the records in the Collection are open in full. An addition 11% are released in part with sensitive portions removed. Approximately 1% of documents identified as assassination-related remain withheld in full. All documents withheld either in part or in full were authorized for withholding by the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB), an independent temporary agency that was in existence from 1994 to 1998.

According to the Act, all records previously withheld either in part or in full should be released on October 26, 2017, unless authorized for further withholding by the President of the United States. The 2017 date derives directly from the law that states:

Each assassination record shall be publicly disclosed in full, and available in the Collection no later than the date that is 25 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, unless the President certifies, as required by this Act, that –

(i) continued postponement is made necessary by an identifiable harm to military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement or conduct of foreign relations; and

(ii) the identifiable harm is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

The Act was signed by President Bush on October 26, 1992, thus the final release date is October 26, 2017.*

The JFK 2017 Processing Team

In October of 2014, after conducting an initial pre-processing evaluation of the withheld materials, the National Archives constituted a dedicated team of four (4) archivists to process withheld JFK Assassination-related records in preparation for the 2017 release of additional materials. NARA has hired three (3) additional technicians to assist with digitizing the withheld materials.

The Team is conducting archival processing on the documents to prepare the records for scanning. Agencies with equities in the withheld materials have been notified that previously withheld documents will be released in 2017 absent a successful appeal to the President. The staff is working with NARA’s Office of Innovation to determine the best way to present the documents through archives.gov when released in 2017.

Once the digital release is completed the hard copy documents will be interfiled into the five million pages of the paper Collection.

*For more information about the ARRB and the Act, you can read the Final Report of the Assassination Records Review Board. A copy of the Act is in Appendix C of the Report.

FAQs about John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 Collection and the 2017 release

The President created the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB) as an independent agency to re-examine for release the assassination-related records that federal agencies still regarded as too sensitive to open to the public. The Board finished its work on September 30, 1998, issued a final report, and transferred all of its records to the National Archives and Records Administration.

What does the John F Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 say about the release of assassination records?

According to the Act, all records that were previously authorized for withholding by the ARRB are to be released no later than 25 years after the signing of the Act, unless the President authorizes further withholding. That date is October 26, 2017. Agencies who would like their information withheld for longer, need to file a formal appeal with the President.

Have any agencies appealed the release of their records?

As of March, 2017, NARA has not been notified that any agency has appealed release of their documents. However, it is our understanding that agencies are still reviewing the documents subject to release in October 2017.

What is going to be released before October?

We still have not determined whether or how many records will be released before the October deadline. The law states that the records must be released or authorized for further withholding no later than 25 years after the signing of the act. Nothing in the law precludes or requires a release prior to that date. We are hopeful that there will be files that can be proactively released before the October 26, 2017 deadline, but are awaiting formal determinations from the agencies.

Where is the withdrawn material physically kept?

Agencies transferred the withheld material to NARA. NARA stores the records in security-classified stacks at the National Archives at College Park.

How likely is it that there could be a major revelation in the material?

The ARRB considered the relevancy of each document to the assassination events when they determined which documents would be released during their tenure and which could be postponed until 2017. The ARRB cast a wide net in what they considered assassination related and included records on topics not specifically related to the assassination and the investigations into the assassination. While NARA cannot comment on the content of the records, we assume that much of what will be released will be tangential to the assassination events.

Are we going to see everything, or will some documents remain secret forever?

NARA is trusted with preserving our archival holdings permanently and holds that all records in our legal custody will eventually be available for research. That said, there are categories of records in the collection that, in accordance with the Act, will not be released in 2017. Sections 10 and 11 of the act discuss grand jury information and records held under section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code (tax return information) as well as records covered by a specific deed of gift. We have identified a small number of records, or portions of records, that fit into these categories. For all other records, how long records stay withheld after 2017 will be determined by the President, who has final appeal authority.

What is NARA’s role?

The staff of the National Archives is focused on ensuring that we do everything in our power to facilitate the processing of these records. Our goal is to provide the support that the agencies and the President need to meet the requirements of the Act and to expeditiously release the records as soon as we are authorized to do so.

Where can I find a copy of the John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act and more information about the work of the Assassination Records Review Board?

The ARRB Report is linked here, and a copy of the act is in Appendix C of the Report.