The untold story of Kim Jong Nam’s assassination by North Korea

When Kim Jong Nam was killed in what appeared to be a chemical weapons attack while transiting through an airport in Malaysia in February, it captured the world’s attention.

Eyes immediately looked toward his reclusive homeland and his younger half-brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has been consolidating his power by ousting, even killing, possible rivals. But Kim, of course, didn’t kill his half-brother himself. Two women were suspected of delivering the chemicals that delivered the fatal blow.

Reporter Doug Bock Clark wanted to find out more about the two women, Siti Aisyah and Doan Thi Huong. Clark spoke with PRI’s The World about the challenges he encountered trying to report the story.

PRI’s The World: Your piece in GQ is an in-depth, thorough examination of what transpired behind the scenes in the assassination of Kim Jong-nam. What made you want to dig into this story?  

Doug Bock Clark: I have lived and worked in Indonesia for about three years. I knew many people who were migrants to Kuala Lumpur and to other parts of Malaysia. When I saw the story about the assassination and when I saw the broad details of Siti’s life starting to emerge, I felt that something was not adding up with the portrait the media were drawing of them as very cold and calculating assassins. It seemed unlikely to me, knowing many people who had lived through Siti’s circumstances and had similar levels of education and knowledge about international affairs and what was happening in the outside world. So, I decided to investigate.

PRI’s The World: Why did you decide to follow Siti Aisyah’s footsteps as opposed to Doan Thi Huong’s?

Doug Bock Clark: I chose Siti because I am significantly more familiar with Indonesia and with the context of her life and with economic migrants from Indonesia than I was from Vietnam. I already had a lot of contacts in that region, and I speak Bahasa fluently.

PRI’s The World: What was the biggest challenge in trying to pull this story together — especially in trying to reconstruct events with Siti and her life? 

Doug Bock Clark: First, what made it very helpful was there was a huge amount of CCTV footage of the attack as well as some social media presence from both women. Those gave me a launching pad. I could see exactly what happened — I could see who was involved with everything, and I could see where they had lived. So, the challenge became getting people to talk about a story they were very, very afraid of, then locating people who were often not excited to come forward or who lived in fairly remote places. I went to three different countries. I was everywhere from the sweatshops and slums of Jakarta to the rural backwoods of Java, Indonesia, to the nightclubs and whorehouses of Kuala Lumpur. The difficulty was just getting people to be honest and to talk about something they were very nervous about.

PRI’s The World: What stands out most about what you learned about Siti Aisyah? Do you think she and Doan are guilty? Why or why not?

Doug Bock Clark: From my reporting, she seemed to be as much a victim as anyone in this situation. I think North Korea’s willingness to use her and then throw her away really highlights their ruthlessness and their willingness to destroy people’s lives for their own power and purposes.  

PRI’s The World: Do you believe Siti was duped, as she claims? Or is this her defense?

Doug Bock Clark: I think it is very unlikely that she acted with intention. I would like to see the full evidence come out at trial, but I can say with confidence that I’ve gone deeper on this story than anyone else has and I can also say with confidence that I think it’s very unlikely that she murdered him with intention.

PRI’s The World: Any big, lingering questions in your mind, about this case? Or about Siti’s story?

Doug Bock Clark: I would love to learn more about some of the North Korean agents. My article does not delve deeply into them, though I was able to uncover some of their history and some of their past interactions with these women. And as the trial moves forward, we’re going to see a fascinating portrait of a very sophisticated and highly coordinated assassination plot. 

PRI’s The World:  Did you ever feel like it was dangerous for you, trying to learn more about Siti and Doan and their involvement in Kim Jong-nam’s assassination? 

Sometimes, but I also really appreciated the help of the sources who felt it was dangerous to talk to me.  And I think they were taking real risks and being extremely brave to help put out a very important story about what actually happened in this assassination.

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This article originally appeared on GlobalPost and PRI.org. Its content was created separately to USA TODAY.

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What we learned: Patriots lean on defense in victory

The Patriots are used to dramatic endings by now. This time, it was the team’s beleaguered defense that stepped up late in a 19-14 victory in Tampa.

Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston’s pass from the 19-yard line fell incomplete as time expired, a fitting ending on a night where the NFL’s last-ranked defense held Tampa to seven points and under 200 yards entering the fourth quarter. Patriots coach Bill Belichick has likely seen enough wild comebacks and high-scoring shootouts lately to last a lifetime, so this old-school affair might have felt like a thing of beauty to the veteran coach.

Now 3-2, the return to form for the Patriots’ secondary was the best news for Belichick on a night that included other familiar, troubling elements of this inconsistent Patriots season. Tom Brady was hit too much. The running game struggled to salt the game away. But one week after the Patriots’ defense only forced one punt, the team didn’t allow a second touchdown until there was just over two minutes left. When Brady turned the ball over Thursday night — twice for the first time since the 2015 season — the Patriots’ defense picked him up with stops.

That’s an example of the complementary football which has helped to define the Belichick era in New England. For a team that didn’t look capable of winning ugly early this season, it’s a start.

Here’s what else we learned from the Patriots’ victory:

1. Brady has easily been the best quarterback in football this season. Despite an interception on an early overthrow, he showed why on Thursday night. Playing without Rob Gronkowski, Brady had a number of beautiful touch throws into tight windows and completed 13 straight passes at one point as New England dominated yardage and time of possession through three quarters. Brady surely will bemoan the team’s inability to put the game away late, only gaining 42 yards on three fourth-quarter drives.

2. Bucs general manager Jason Licht must feel like he’s cursed at the kicker position. Nick Folk, the team’s hand-picked replacement for draft bust Roberto Aguayo, missed three field goals in what could be his last game in a Bucs uniform. Folk has missed five kicks in the last two weeks.

3. Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston has been too erratic with his accuracy this season to take the next step in his development. The Bucs’ offense got off to a slow start, punting on four of its first five possessions. Winston flat-out missed a number of open throws that short-circuited drives. His final numbers (334 yards on 46 attempts) don’t reflect the struggles he had for much of the night. He and his receivers often weren’t on the same page, including on the final throw to rookie tight end O.J. Howard.

The Patriots took the deep ball away from Winston and made the Bucs patiently execute their offense. Now 2-2 on the season, the Bucs couldn’t pull it off until their final desperation drives.

4. Brady focused almost exclusively on four receivers. Brandin Cooks, Danny Amendola, Chris Hogan and running back James White all saw at least eight targets and caught at least five passes. Amendola’s return to the lineup last week has especially helped Brady on third downs, running some of the option routes that Julian Edelman used to make his own.

5. Bucs running back Doug Martin said he was going to look like the “2015 Doug Martin this season.” Strange use of the third person aside, he should be right. Martin ran through tackles with an incredible burst, just like he did back in 2015 when he finished second in league rushing. No NFL player — at any position — impressed me more this preseason. Martin clearly came into this season looking to make amends. Finally off suspension, he gave a preview to what could be a monster season with 74 yards and a touchdown on only 13 carries. His workload should only increase from here.

6. This Bucs defense will improve as the season wears on. They were missing four key defensive starters in the back-seven, and the team’s pass rush finally came alive Thursday with Brady getting knocked down at least nine times. Brady can’t continue to take a pounding like this all season, with left tackle Nate Solder being the biggest issue at the line.

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