A video of a man describing himself as the son of assassinated North Korean exile Kim Jong-Nam emerged Wednesday, apparently the first time a family member has spoken about the killing. The video was uploaded to the YouTube page of a previously unknown group, Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD), which claimed to have "extracted" vulnerable members of Jong-Nam's family with the help of the Dutch, US and South Korean authorities, and was keeping them under protection in an undisclosed location.
South Korea's intelligence agency confirmed the individual on the video is Kim Han-Sol. His father was murdered at Malaysia's main airport last month by two women using the banned VX nerve agent, with Pyongyang widely blamed for the assassination. "The man is indeed Kim Han-Sol," a spokesman for the National Intelligence Service told AFP.
In the video, the man says in English: "My name is Kim Han-Sol, from North Korea, part of the Kim family. "My father has been killed a few days ago. I'm currently with my mother and my sister. We are very grateful to..." he says, before the audio cuts off and his mouth movements are blacked out. He shows his North Korean diplomatic passport as evidence of his identity but the page that shows his particulars is digitally covered. The 40-second video wraps up with him saying: "We hope this gets better soon."