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Because slicing someone's head off requires you to be there, next to them, as it happens. You're standing next to the body as it gargles and bleeds everywhere a
by NamTaf 10y ago
Because slicing someone's head off requires you to be there, next to them, as it happens. You're standing next to the body as it gargles and bleeds everywhere and security will descend on you in a big way.
Wiping someone's face then bailing is something that the target will shrug off as 'some crazy' until some time later it kills them. This buys you time to get out of the place before anyone realises the full extent of what happened. Hence why they're back in Pyongyang, out of the reach of any law enforcement.
Pyongyang doesn't really care if the world knows it's them or not. I bet they care much more if they lose their highly trained assassins, though.
- M_Grey 10y agoWhy do something that's so obvious though? Bump into someone instead and you can accomplish the same thing without a big stunt.
- rangibaby 10y agoIt's showing off, importantly, making whoever was protecting Jong Nam (in this case, the PRC) lose face. If someone just wanted to kill him they would have done it "Markov" style and it anything else said could be banished to the realm of plausible conspiracy theories and everyone would go on with their lives (except, well, you know). There is no way of denying what happened in this case. It's like the CIA shooting Snowden to death on Facebook Live to show that the Russian protection there is worthless. Who's next?
- ransom1538 10y agoOh I always imagine North Korea had the assassins family chained up. WTF does it matter if they get back?
- NamTaf 10y agoThey're still an expensive and relatively difficult asset to replace. It's not like they're disposable front-line infantry. Assassins presumably have a fair amount of training. If you lose the assassin that's another expense you have to cover. Not to mention the indoctrination required to have someone perform this overseas and come back again.
- rdtsc 10y agoI would even say it cares that other dissidents notice and understand exactly who did it. Had this been a robbery or some car accident it would not have been as effective. The message is "we are coming after you"
- rukuu001 10y agoI remember a long time ago ('97) there was a major defection from the North Korean camp to the South. Couple days later, in Seoul, the North Koreans assassinated some other guy who'd defected 10 years earlier. Not only is the message "We're coming for you," but also "you can never feel safe again."
- dba7dba 10y agoI believe you are talking about a distant relative or nephew of the North Korea's Kim family. I believe the victim was actually shot to death in front of his home by someone with a pistol, which was a big news... Touch choice. Stay in North Korea and be dragged off to labor camp or get executed. Or defect and get assassinated years later.
- justincormack 10y agoMy local butcher in London was killed by Gadaffi for similar reasons it seems http://www.independent.co.uk/news/gaddafi-hit-squad-linked-to-murder-of-libyan-grocer-1584010.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/gaddafi-hit-squad-linked-t...