Kim Jong Nam, brother of North Korea Leader, Kim Jong Un, has been killed in Malaysia, a South Korean government source stated.
Kim Jong Nam, the older half brother of the North Korean leader, who is believed to be in his mid-40s has spent most of his time outside North Korea.
He had spoken out publicly against the reign of his family in the country.
Police in Malaysia told Reuters on Tuesday an unidentified North Korean man had died en route to hospital from Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday.
Abdul Aziz Ali, police chief for the Sepang district, said the man’s identity had not been verified.
An employee in the emergency ward of Putrajaya hospital said a deceased Korean there was born in 1970 and surnamed Kim.
Also, South Korean cable TV, Chosun reported that Kim was poisoned at the Kuala Lumpur airport.
It stated that two women believed to be North Korean operatives were responsible for the poisoning. The suspected women are now currently at large.
No further detail was provided by the South Korean government source.
However, South Korea’s foreign ministry said it could not confirm the reports, but the country’s intelligence agency could not immediately be reached for comment.
Kim Jong Nam and Kim Jong Un are both sons of former leader Kim Jong Il, who died in late 2011, but they had different mothers.
Kim Jong Nam was believed to be close to his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who was North Korea’s second most powerful man before being executed on Kim Jong Un’s orders in 2013.