- Title: For over three years, Kim murder suspect lived mystery life in Malaysia
- Date: 21st February 2017
- Summary: SEPANG, MALAYSIA (FEBRUARY 18, 2017) (REUTERS) POLICE VEHICLES CARRYING MAN BELIEVED TO BE RI JONG CHOL, ARRIVING NORTH KOREAN SUSPECT, RI JONG CHOL, BEING ESCORTED BY POLICE
- Embargoed: 7th March 2017 16:15
- Keywords: North Korea Malaysia Kim Jong Nam murder
- Location: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA / TOKYO, JAPAN / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
- City: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA / TOKYO, JAPAN / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
- Country: Malaysia
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice
- Reuters ID: LVA00164GR1HJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS WHITE FLASHES TO SEPARATE SOUNDBITES
Ri Jong Chol, a North Korean arrested in the probe into last week's murder of the half-brother of the isolated state's leader, lived in Malaysia for more than three years without working at the company registered on his employment permit or receiving a salary.
Ri, 47, had a Malaysian work visa that showed he was an employee of Tombo Enterprise. However, the owner of the company said he never worked a day there or drew a salary from the small herbal medicine firm.
Managing Director of Tombo Enterprise, Chong Ah Kow, said he facilitated Ri's working visa by stating in supporting documents that he was a product development manager in the company's IT department earning 5,500 ringgit ($1,230) per month. The visa was renewed once, he said, in June 2016.
"Actually I get him the working visa, he stay here so that we can maybe develop the mushroom extract business, but a lot of thing to consider, so we didn't purchase anything," he said.
Chong said he and Ri met in 2013 when the North Korean came to him in Kuala Lumpur, and said he was related to the inventor of a mushroom extract with anti-cancer effects. Chong said he has visited North Korea about 10 times and admires the country for its culture.
Chong, a frequent traveller to North Korea, said he was just trying to "help out" Ri. He has been interviewed by police and told Reuters he was ready to face any consequences from submitting false information to the government.
Chong, who has remained friends with Ri, said the North Korean lived with his wife and two children in Kuala Lumpur.
Reuters could not ascertain if Ri had any other employment or source of income. Police could not be reached for comment to explain how Ri supported his family in Malaysia.
Ri has been arrested as a key suspect in the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un. Police have not specified what role he may have played in last week's brazen killing at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Chong who described Ri as a humble man said he was shocked at his arrest.
"I get a shock, I heard the news I get a shock, I don't believe. I hope the police got the wrong person, maybe ask him to come and help to investigate but I didn't know things have become so serious," he said.
Reuters was unable to find out whether Ri has a lawyer or to contact his wife or his daughter. Efforts to contact the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur were also unsuccessful.
Chong said Ri rented an apartment in Kuchai Lama, a middle-class Kuala Lumpur suburb. Three-bedroom apartments in the neighbourhood typically rent for about 1,500-2,000 ringgit ($337-449) per month, according to property websites.
Ri's daughter studies at HELP University, a fee-paying private college in a western Kuala Lumpur suburb that bestowed a honorary doctorate in economics on Kim Jong Un in 2013 for his "untiring efforts for the education of the country and the well-being of the people".
The university has confirmed she is a student there.
Malaysia is about the only foreign country that a North Korean can easily enter, thanks to a visa-free policy for visitors that is largely reciprocated by Pyongyang. Since the 1980s, North Korea has used the Southeast Asian nation as a hub to promote its strategic and business interests, legitimate and otherwise, some analysts say.
However ties are under strain following the killing of Kim Jong Nam. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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