In one of the latest twists in the sensational assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the China Press, a Chinese-language newspaper in Malaysia, is reporting that before carrying out the poisoning, the two female suspects had lived in China for up to three months practicing the “prank” that would kill Kim Jong-un’s half-brother.
The two women — Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 29 — worked part-time as female escorts in China for between one and three months, according to the China Press.
During that time a mysterious man traveled with the women abroad several times to various countries like Vietnam and South Korea, allegedly to gain their trust. He also introduced them to four men who the police are now hunting down for possibly masterminding the operation.
The report alleges that the women were made to repeatedly rehearse a “prank” in which they would use a handkerchief to cover a person’s face.
These details would seem to agree with an interpretation given by Indonesia’s national police chief Tito Karnavian yesterday that Siti had been duped into thinking she was part of a comedy prank show. Karnavian claimed that the two women had been paid to perform pranks such as convincing men to close their eyes and then spraying them with water.
“Such an action was done three or four times and they were given a few dollars for it, and with the last target, Kim Jong Nam, allegedly there were dangerous materials in the sprayer,” Karnavian said. “She was not aware that it was an assassination attempt by alleged foreign agents.”
After the poisoning, the two women quickly got into a taxi and fled.
The case is still under investigation by police. Siti’s mother has said she was shocked to hear about her daughter’s involvement in the poisoning, describing her as a “simple country girl” and a “struggling mother.” For her part, Siti claims she was paid $100 for the “prank.”
Following his fall from grace as the likely successor to his father as the “supreme leader” of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kim Jong Nam moved to Macau in the early 2000s where he was believed to enjoy Chinese protection. In the wake of his ill-timed assassination his family has received the protection of police in Macau.