Indonesia: Suspect Paid $90 to Kill Kim Jong Nam

Indonesian embassy officials in Malaysia on Saturday met with the 25-year-old Indonesian woman in custody in connection with the Feb. 13 murder of the North Korean leader’s half-brother at Kuala Lumpur’s airport. The woman, Siti Aisyah, has reportedly stood by her earlier claim that she was tricked into carrying out the attack, believing it was part of a television prank. She said she was given the equivalent of $90 to smear Kim Jong Nam’s face with a substance similar to baby oil, Indonesian officials said Saturday. Tests showed that Kim was killed by the highly toxic nerve agent VX, considered a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations. Indonesian Deputy Ambassador Andreano Erwin said Aisyah did not exhibit any signs of exposure to the toxic substance during a meeting on Saturday, the BBC reported. He also said she was unable to identify who exactly it was that supposedly put her up to the killing. “She only said in general that somebody asked her to do this activity. She only said in general she met with some people who looked Japanese or Korean,” Erwin said. North Korea is widely believed to have carried out the attack, and Malaysian police have identified a North Korean diplomat among the suspects. So far, Aisya and two others are in custody, including a Vietnamese woman and a North Korean man. Vietnamese officials met with the woman, Doan Thi Huong, on Saturday but have not yet released any comments. Seven other suspects are still wanted in connection with the killing.