SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean spy in Seoul police custody reportedly said he had been ordered to assassinate the eldest brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, prosecution sources said Thursday.

   The spy, surnamed Kim, claimed Pyongyang's security agency ordered him to assassinate Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of the leader, in July 2010, when he was carrying out espionage activities in China, according to sources.

   The 50-year-old spy has been interrogated since he arrived in South Korea in June of this year, posing as a defector. During questioning, the man revealed his true identity, divulging that he is a spy working for the North's National Security Agency.

   Before coming to Seoul, he was based in China for 10 years, sources said. Kim failed to carry out his assignment to kill the leader's brother.

   The eldest son of North Korea's late leader Kim Jong-il, believed to be in his early 40s, fell out of favor with his father after attempting to enter Japan on a fake passport in 2001.

   He was last reported to be staying in Macao in February of this year.

   The self-confessed spy entered Seoul after he had been newly instructed to approach Park Sang-hak, a defector leading anti-Pyongyang propaganda activities in the South, they added.

   Park, head of Fighters for Free North Korea, often launches balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the communist state.

   Kim also previously confessed that his mission in South Korea was to report on the large number of defectors already in the country, they said.

   Kim has been under formal arrest pending trial since Sept. 12.

   khj@yna.co.kr
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