North Korea denies Kim Jong Nam assassination claim

North Korean officials on Thursday rejected Malaysia’s determination that Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of dictator Kim Jong Un, died after being attacked with a deadly poison. Ri Tong Il, the former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters Kim likely died of a heart attack, noting he suffered from heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Malaysian officials dismissed Ri’s comments and have filed murder charges against the two women who attacked Kim while he waited for a flight at the Kuala Lumpur airport. Investigators allege the women wiped Kim’s face with a cloth coated with VX nerve agent, a substance considered a chemical weapon. The involvement of VX heightens the likelihood the North Korean government ordered the attack and produced the poison at a state weapons laboratory.