Kim Jong Un's dead half brother may have been a CIA informant.

Kim Jong Nam. Jesse Chehak/GQ.

According to a new report in the Wall Street Journal, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's dead half brother, Kim Jong-Nam, may have been a CIA informant. The Hill. Kim Jong-Nam had been living outside of North Korea before his death and is said to have met with CIA officials on multiple occasions. Kim was killed when a North Korean intelligence operation smeared the toxic VX chemical on him during a trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where he was supposed to have met with the CIA. 

The Wall Street Journal report can be found here, but it is behind a paywall. 

My Comment:

Back when Kim Jong-Nam was assassinated I wondered why killing him was worth the risk. Kim Jong-Nam was a nobody that was killed in a spectacular and attention grabbing way. It greatly increased tensions with North Korea, not only because of the brazenness of the attack but because it used the extremely deadly and dangerous VX chemical weapon. It was like something out of a spy novel and didn't make much sense. 

If these new reports are true, it makes a lot more sense. This wasn't just Kim Jong Un getting rid of an annoying half brother, it was the execution of a traitor. There are very few countries that would allow one of their citizens to feed high level information to the CIA so it makes sense that North Korea would kill Kim Jong-Nam.

It also makes sense that North Korea would risk higher tensions to take Kim Jong-Nam out. The risks of allowing him to continue to give classified or other sensitive information to the CIA or other intelligence agencies, or even acting as a replacement to Kim Jong-Un, was far to high. Even if they faced military retribution it would have been worth it as long as it didn't infuriate the West to the point of actual war. That didn't happen so it seems they calculated correctly. 

Of course, a very clear message was sent as well. The message is that if you cooperate with foreign intelligence services, even a connection to the leader of the country won't save you. It's very clear to any potential informants that even if they get out of North Korea they will likely be killed, perhaps in a spectacular fashion. 

It also makes more sense that they used VX in the assassination attempt. Not only is VX a pretty terrible way to die, it's one that was sure to gain international attention. It goes to show how powerful the North Korean intelligence services are and sends a message to groups like the CIA that they can't protect their people. 

But is the report true? Without having access to the Wall Street Journal report it's hard to tell. The Wall Street Journal does have a fairly decent reputation in these times of media deception, but without knowing who the sources are it's hard to evaluate. For what it's worth, a new book, “The Great Successor: The Secret Rise and Rule of Kim Jong Un”, written by a Washington Post journalist says the same thing, but who knows? 

As for North Korea itself, peace talks seem to have slowed down. Though I still think that peace talks will probably work in the end it's clear that we have a long way to go. If this report is true, I don't know if it has an effect or not. I am assuming that North Korea knew about this and so did the United States. I mean, they would have to right? Having it go public probably changes nothing. Here's hoping that peace will win out in the end.