It's not Kim Jong-nam, says N Korea

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Permanent Representative to the United Nations has denied that the man assassinated in Malaysia was the half-brother of the DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, and that he United States and Republic of Korea (ROK) should be blamed for the killing.

Kim In-ryong told the media on Monday that the case of the assassination
"is the product of reckless moves of the United States and South Korean
authorities aimed to ... tarnish the image of the dignified DPRK and to bring
down the Socialist system".

Kim spoke in response to a question on the assassination during a news
conference he had called to condemn a recent UN Security Council statement
denouncing recent DPRK ballistic missile launches as a threat to international
peace and security.

However, he acknowledged that the victim, who was poisoned to death at
Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb 13 by two assailants, was a citizen from the DPRK with a diplomatic passport.

"The United States and the South Korean authority are groundlessly blaming

the DPRK, asserting that he was intoxicated by a highly poisonous VX nerve
substance," Kim said, referring to the victim who has been identified by
Malaysian authorities as the estranged half-brother of Kim Jong-un.

The ambassador said Washington wanted to "store up international repugnancy towards the DPRK ... to provoke nuclear war against the DPRK at any cost".

He also raised the question as to where the assailants were able to obtain
such a banned chemical weapon as VX, pointing out the United States has "a
stockpile" of such outlawed weapons.

Kim also said US and ROK assertions the assailants were unaffected while
applying VX to a victim was an "absurdity". 

--  Bernama-NNN-Xinhua