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Pyongyang’s absurd accusation over Kim Jong Nam’s death

Pyongyang’s absurd accusation over Kim Jong Nam’s death

Posted February. 24, 2017 07:14,   

Updated February. 24, 2017 07:19

한국어

Pyongyang made first reaction since the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s estranged half-brother Kim Jong Nam in Malaysia on Thursday. As expected, the North denied its responsibility, and even attempted to hold South Korea accountable for the death by claiming that it was a conspired plot in line with the South Korean government’s scenario. “The situation wherein a citizen of our republic who possessed a diplomatic passport suffered shock just before boarding a plane in Malaysia and died on his way to hospital was an unexpected tragic incident,” the North claimed through a statement issued by the North Korean attorneys’ committee.

In the statement, Pyongyang stopped short of mentioning Kim Jong Nam’s name, and only labeled the assassination as "shock to death." Then, the North unilaterally argued that the South Korean authority was clearly predicting this incident since some time ago, and already created a scenario for the death. The North’s claim makes little sense as it argues that Seoul created such a scenario even by predicting "shock to death." The North condemned autopsy of Kim Jong Nam conducted by Malaysia, claiming that it was blunt violation of the DPRK’s sovereignty and violent abuse of human rights. However, Kuala Lumpur’s conduct of autopsy to scientifically identify the cause of a mysterious death that occurred at one of its airports is exercise of its sovereignty and complies with international practice.

In its second briefing on their investigation on Wednesday, Malaysian police singled out additional suspects in the case, a second secretary at the North Korean embassy in Malaysia and an Air Koryo employee. If the North is not actually behind the murder, it should hand over all the suspects. As it has taken some time to identify the ingredients in the poison used in the assassination, the North is attempting to make the death a permanently unsolved case, saying that Malaysian police has failed to find any single piece of evidence for 10 days since the incident. However, Pyongyang completely denied its involvement after the 1983 terror attack on South Korean officials in Aung San, Myanmar, and the bombing of Korean Air Flight 858 in 1987 by calling them "fake and false accusations," but these terror attacks were eventually found to have been committed by Pyongyang. Again this time, Beijing is siding with Pyongyang by staying silent, but the international community will never be cheated by the North’s lies.

The North is trying to spur internal conflict within the South, saying, “Voices are mounting to claim that those who stand to benefit (from this incident) are Park Geun-hye, the Free Korea Party, and the National Intelligence Service.” The North could take advantage of the fact the Vietnamese female suspect who has been arrested this time visited the South Korean resort island of Jeju in November last year and would frequently exchange communications with South Koreans, in an attempt to falsely claim Seoul is behind the assassination. It is worrisome that some forces in the South that sided with Pyongyang, which denied its involvement after sinking the South Korean military corvette Cheonan with a torpedo attack, might reemerge and gain ground anew. At a time when public opinions are divided over the ongoing presidential impeachment process in South Korea, the South cannot afford to fall victim to Pyongyang’s strategy to increase internal conflict within the South. Even if South Koreans are divided and confrontational internally, the nation should form a united front to ensure the international community will sternly punish Pyongyang through the U.S. designation of North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism, among other measures.