Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and the half-brother of current leader Kim Jong-un, was killed in Malaysia Monday.
A government source told South Korea's Yonhap News Agency that Kim was "assassinated" without sharing additional detailed. South Korea's Chosun TV claimed, though, that Kim was attacked at a Malaysian airport by two unidentified women with "poisoned needles," stated Yonhap.
According to The Telegraph, Kim complained to Kuala Lumpur International Airport staff that his face had been sprayed while he was preparing for a flight to Macau.
"Kim Jong-nam was feeling unwell on Monday morning while he was waiting for a flight to Macau at KLIA," Mohmad Salleh, the Malaysian Criminal Investigations Department director, told the Telegraph.
"He was taken to KLIA clinic for further treatment, but because of the condition he was in, he was rushed to Putrajaya Hospital, but passed away soon after arriving. Police have classified the death of Kim Jong-nam as sudden death and are waiting for the full postmortem report to decide further action."
One source alleged that agents from the Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea's spy agency, had carried out the assassination by exploiting a security loophole created between Kim's body guards and Malaysian police at the Malaysian airport, according to Yonhap.
Kim had blasted his brother, Kim Jong-un in a book in 2012, saying that the younger Kim was unprepared for leadership, that the North Korean regime would collapse and the its military had become too much for the isolated country to support, the Washington Times reported.
Kim was living in exile in China when his book, "My Father Kim Jong-il and Me," with Japanese reporter Yoji Gumi, was published, according to the Times.
In the past, Kim had voiced opposition to his father's power succession to Kim Jong-un. The eldest Kim was born from his father's relationship with South Korean-born actress Sung Hae-rim, who later died in Moscow, Yonhap reported.
In 2010, Kim sounded more conciliatory, telling Japanese broadcaster Asahi that even though he was "against third-generation succession," he hoped Kim Jong-un would improve the lives of North Koreans and that he stood willing to help from abroad, according to Yonhap.
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