Photo: Alexander Khitrov / Shutterstock
Kim Jong-nam died by lethal nerve gas.
By Izzy Casey — Written on Nov 14, 2020
“I had never made a film in which the stakes were truly life-or-death, so the need to make the film quickly and thoroughly was paramount,” said Ryan White, director of the upcoming documentary, Assasins.
Assasins covers the two women who allegedly killed Kim Jong Nam by smearing lethal nerve gases onto his face.
The event happened in 2017 in broad daylight, but the two claim they were performing an elaborate prank without the intention of killing him.
Who's telling the truth and more importantly:
Who killed Kim Jong Un's brother, Kim Jong-nam?
Who is Kim Jong-nam?
Kim Jong-nam is Kim Jong-un’s estranged half-brother.
As the half-brother of a North Korean dictator, they both share the same father, Kim Jong-il, who was also the former North Korean leader.
In 2003, he was exiled from North Korea for being critical of his family’s regime.
As a result, Kim Jong-un was named the heir apparent instead of him.
When was Kim Jong-nam born?
Kim Jong-nam was born on May 10, 1971, which makes him a Taurus.
He was born in Pyongyang, North Korea to Kim Jong-il and Song Hye-rim.
He spent most of his childhood at international schools in Switzerland and Russia.
He was homeschooled by his mother and had a very close relationship with his grandmother who lived in Moscow.
Kim Jong-nam and Kim Jong-un had a very difficult relationship.
It wasn’t just his relationship with Kim Jon-un who he had a strained relationship with — he had a troublesome relationship with his entire family.
He estranged himself from his family and spent the majority of his life in Macau, mainland China, and Singapore.
In 2001, Kim Jong-nam was arrested in Japan.
In May of 2001, Kim Jong-nam was arrested at the Narita International Airport in Japan.
He claimed to be traveling to Tokyo Disneyland, but was detained in China.
When was Kim Jong-nam assassinated?
He was assassinated in 2017 at the Malaysian airport after being exposed to VX, the lethal nerve agent.
Doan Thi Huong and Siti Aisyah were the two women accused of killing Kim Jong-nam.
“We knew these two women were facing execution for the crime, and most people on the ground in Malaysia were telling us that they were going to be convicted,” director White said. “I had never made a film in which the stakes were truly life-or-death, so the need to make the film quickly and thoroughly was paramount.
Both women denied the murder charges.
According to their lawyers, Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong were being compensated to prank people in airports, hotels, and shopping malls, wiping liquid on them.
They claimed their intent was never to kill anyone.
Izzy Casey is a writer and editor based in NYC who covers news & entertainment for YourTango. Her work has been published in or is forthcoming from Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts, Black Warrior Review, Bennington Review, BOAAT, Prelude, NY Tyrant, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere. She received her MFA in Poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was the recipient of a fellowship with the Poetry Foundation.