North Korea demands suspected assassins’ release

North Korean officials are demanding Malaysia release two women arrested in the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, half brother to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Although the women reportedly are from Vietnam and Indonesia, Pyongyang has tried to advocate on their behalf, at least through the media. Malaysian investigators say the women trained at a Kuala Lumpur mall before carrying out the attack on Kim at the city’s airport. They allege the women wiped poison on Kim’s face with their hands, quickly washing the substance off in a nearby bathroom before it could harm them. Kim died about 30 minutes after the attack, on the way to the hospital. The alleged sequence of events puzzles toxicologists, who question how the women could survive handling such a deadly substance. North Korean state-run media also dismissed the Malaysian account as ridiculous. Investigators say four North Korean suspects, who might have provided the poison, fled Kuala Lumpur shortly after the attack. They believe three others remain in Malaysia, including a North Korean embassy official and an employee of North Korea's state-owned airline, Air Koryo.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.