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Channel News Asia quoted a senior police source as saying the woman, So Yong Ra, 41, was a former air stewardess with Air Koryo, North Korea’s national flag carrier.
She was originally from Pyongyang and used the name So Yong La.
She was believed to have lived in Macau together with Jong Nam since 2001 and eventually married him.
The police source, who did not give any details as to why Malaysian authorities wanted to question So, said her whereabout were not known but that she did not come with Jong Nam to Malaysia.
“So worked at Air Koryo from 1992 to 1998. She studied at the Pyongyang Music and Dance University,” said the source.
Channel NewsAsia published a photo of the woman being sought by police.
Jong Nam, 45, was at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) to catch a 9am flight to Macau on Feb 13 when he was accosted by two women who wiped his face with a liquid containing traces of the VX nerve agent.
He suffered headaches and complained of pain in his eyes and was taken to a clinic at the airport for treatment but died on the way to Putrajaya Hospital.
Police have confirmed that the nerve agent, VX, killed him within 15 to 20 minutes.
They have also detained the two women, a Vietnamese and an Indonesian, as well as a North Korean and are also seeking several more North Koreans in connection with the case.
It was previously reported that Jong Nam had two wives, at least one mistress and several children, including a son and daughter by his second wife, Lee Hye-Kyong.
The police source said So was with Jong Nam when he tried to enter Japan at the Narita airport in May 2001, apparently to visit Disneyland. His attempt to enter Japan then on a forged passport led to a falling out with the leader of North Korea.
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