'Assassins': How Kim Jong-nam's death led to diplomatic struggle among North Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam
In February 2017, Kim Jong-nam, the former favored heir to the North Korean rule, was assassinated at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia by two women who thought they were taking part in a Japanese prank show. The women — Siti Aisyah from Indonesia and Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam — had been tricked by North Korean agents who posed as Japanese TV producers into "filming" for at least a month before the assassination, before turning on Kim Jong-nam who was reportedly in Malaysia to meet with a CIA agent. In the aftermath of the assassination, the women were catapulted into international notoriety.
The Kim Jong-nam assassination was no doubt an embarrassment to the Malaysian government, and the Malaysian police acted quickly to nab both Siti and Doan in order to show that they were taking the assassination seriously. However, in what ended up being a four-way diplomatic tug-of-war between four Southeast Asian countries, Siti and Doan were more often scapegoats than not.
Before the truth about them being tricked into performing for a prank show was revealed, international newspapers and Malaysian authorities believed the women to be highly trained North Korean spies. However, as the women told their stories, it became clear that other North Korean people were involved. The spat between North Korea and Malaysia first started when Malaysian authorities refused North Korea's demands to hand over Kim Jong-nam's body immediately without an autopsy. This prompted a war of words where North Korea's ambassador Kang Chol accused Malaysia of colluding with "hostile forces", allegations which Kuala Lumpur dubbed as "delusions, lies and half-truths".
Then, after authorities arrested North Korean citizens living in Malaysia and who was suspected of being a part of the assassination, North Korea said it banned all Malaysians in North Korea from leaving until the situation was resolved. Malaysia enacted a tit-for-tat exit ban on North Koreans. Eventually, Malaysian officials freed the North Korean suspects who were flown back to North Korea while the case against Siti and Doan continued. If convicted, the two women faced the death penalty in Malaysia.
For Siti, however, after more than a year of being in prison, prosecutors dropped the case against her. It was revealed that there had been some high-level conversations between Malaysian and Indonesian officials, with the latter putting pressure on Malaysia to release Siti. Doan was not as lucky and this led to increased trauma for the Vietnamese woman.
Unlike Indonesia, Vietnam has strong diplomatic relations with North Korea, with both being communist countries. As such, Vietnam did not put pressure on Malaysia to free Doan as publicly. After Siti was freed, Doan spent more time in prison, during which Vietnam began talks with Malaysian officials.
After a lengthy trial, Doan pleaded guilty to a much lesser charge — of "causing injury" to Kim Jong-nam — making her the only person convicted of his murder. Doan, who received a jail term of several years, which was cut due to sentence remissions, was freed from a prison outside Kuala Lumpur following the conviction and she was flown to Vietnam shortly afterward.
'Assassins' will release in theaters and on virtual cinema on December 11, 2020.