Fourth arrest in Kim Jong Nam murder probe

The man identified as Ri Jong Chol was arrested on Friday in Selangor near Kuala Lumpur and was reportedly carrying Malaysian documentation issued to foreign workers. These identified him as 46-year-old North Korean citizen Ri Jong Chol.

Ri Jong Chol is the first North Korean to be arrested in connection with themurder of Kim Jong Nam.

Detectives have so far detained a 25-year-old Indonesian woman named Siti Aishah and her Malaysian boyfriend, along with a woman carrying a Vietnamese passport, who was identified as 28-year-old Doan Thi Huong.

North Korean state media has remained silent on the murder of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday.

South Korea has accused its enemies in North Korea of dispatching a hit squad to kill him, saying two female assassins used poison and then fled in a taxi.

A second autopsy

A senior Malaysian official said a second autopsy would be carried out on the half brother of the North Korean leader after the first autopsy proved inconclusive. He said the second one would take place on Saturday.

Earlier, North Korean Ambassador Kang Chol said Malaysia had conducted the autopsy on Kim Jong Nam "unilaterally and excluding our attendance." He said his government would reject any findings.

Son in danger

"As Kim Jong Nam's reign of terror continues, some in Pyongyang have begun to think about possible alternatives and Kim Jong Un must have concerns about such figures. His son - Han Sol - is also in great danger," Koh Young Hwan - a former North Korean diplomat, told the Portuguese news agency Lusa.

After studying at the Science Po University in France, the 21-year-old Han Sol returned to Macao but his current whereabouts are unknown.

Some analysts believe China was protecting the family and has been considering the possibility that Kim Jong Nam might replace his brother.

jbh/rc (Lusa, dpa, AFP)