Freed N. Korean suspect denies involvement in Kim Jong-nam's assassination
Ri Jong-chol talks to reporters from inside the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Saturday. / Yonhap
By Ko Dong-hwan
The North Korean suspect released from custody in Malaysia denied his involvement in the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of the military regime’s leader Kim Jong-un.
Ri Jong-chol, 46, claimed Saturday to reporters at the North Korean embassy in Beijing at about 3 a.m., about two hours after he arrived in China from Kuala Lumpur, that the investigation is a plot to hurt the North’s dignity.
On Friday, Malaysian police released Ri due to lack of evidence. He was the only one of the eight North Korean suspects in the assassination on Feb. 13 who was taken into custody.
Ri also said that the Malaysian police threatened to kill his family members and conducted the investigation with forged evidence.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the embassy later informed some media that Ri will hold a news conference at 4 p.m., to which some 100 reporters responded by standing by but 50 minutes later a North Korean official told them the news conference was cancelled.
Family members of Ri, the chemistry expert, are in Malaysia and did not reportedly get on the airplane.
Ri was arrested days after the assassination on suspicions that he may have been involved in making VX nerve agent used for the murder or may have helped others run away after the killing. He denied all the charges.
The other North Korean suspects have already fled to other countries or are hiding at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.