South Korea Has Simple Plan to Tell North of Assassination

If North Koreans living along the country's demilitarization zone with South Korea don't yet know that their leader's half-brother was assassinated this week, they probably will soon. South Korea announced plans Thursday to broadcast news of Kim Jong Nam's death on loudspeakers aimed across its border with North Korea, reports Chosun Ilbo. A military official said "North Koreans will be quite shocked" by the news since Nam was the "eldest descendant" of North Korea's founder, Kim Il Sung. South Korea has previously used the speakers to broadcast anti-Pyongyang propaganda and world news up to 15 miles away.

Meanwhile, Malaysian officials say North Korea has filed a request to claim Kim's body, per the Guardian. However, the officials say the body won't be released without a DNA sample of a family member. Kim is thought to have six children, but the Washington Post reports that no relative has emerged to claim or even identify the body. North Korean officials are also said to have tried unsuccessfully to prevent an autopsy on Kim. No results have been released, but he is believed to have been poisoned. Three people have been arrested, including an Indonesian woman who may have thought she was participating in a prank. (More North Korea stories.)