Kim's alleged killer’s identity verified: Vietnam media
State-controlled newspaper reports that it has spoken with suspect’s father and discovered corroborating documents
By Bennett Murray
HANOI, Vietnam
A Vietnamese state-controlled newspaper reported that it has seen government documents strongly suggesting that a woman held in Malaysia on suspicion of killing Kim Jong-nam was traveling on a legitimate passport.
The Thanh Nien newspaper reported Tuesday that a passport with the same name and birthday as the passport carried by Doan Thi Huong, the 28-year-old woman arrested in Kuala Lumpur on suspicion of taking part in the murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother, matched issuance records found in the archives of the Nam Ninh provincial immigration department in northern Vietnam.
Vu Van Cuong, chairman of Huong’s hometown commune in Nam Ninh province, confirmed that the identity appeared on his records.
A man in the commune, identified as Doan Van T., also confirmed to Thanh Nien that the woman in the pictures released by Malaysian authorities was his daughter.
“The pictures are a little fuzzy and her hair is shorter, but that is exactly my child,” he said.
Kim Jong-nam was apparently murdered last week at Kuala Lumpur’s main airport as he tried boarding a flight to Macau.
Huong has maintained she was duped into spraying a poisonous substance into his face thinking it was a harmless prank.
While the nationality of Huong’s passport was revealed last week, covert North Korean operatives have frequently been discovered using fake foreign passports in the past given travel difficulties and suspicions associated with North Korean passports.
Kim Jong-nam himself was caught in 2001 trying to enter Japan on a forged Dominican Republic passport.
The Vietnamese government said in a statement late Monday night that it hadn’t yet been able to establish contact with Huong, adding she had been temporarily barred from receiving consular assistance.
Under Malaysian law, foreign suspects can be detained for a week without receiving consular assistance in exceptional situations.
