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Jung Yeon-je / AFP / Getty Images

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's older half-brother, who was known for his criticism of the nation's leadership, was killed in Malaysia under mysterious circumstances on Monday, according to news reports.

Kim Jong Nam was at the main airport in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur to catch a flight to Macau when he was attacked, the Associated Press reported, citing an unnamed senior Malaysian official. He then died on the way to the hospital after being assisted by workers at the airport.

Kim is best known in the West for an embarrassing incident in 2001, when he was caught at an airport in Japan trying to use a fake passport from the Dominican Republic. He told immigration authorities at the time he had wanted to go to Tokyo Disneyland.

That snafu is widely believed to have caused a rift between him and the rest of the Kim clan, and stymied any hope that Kim Jong Nam might have succeeded his father, the late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

South Korea's TV Chosun reported Kim was killed when two women attacked him with poisoned needles at the airport, citing anonymous sources. BuzzFeed News could not confirm those details.

Police told Reuters the investigation was ongoing but there were no suspects yet.

Kim reportedly spent much of his time abroad, and had become a vocal critic of the North Korean leadership in recent years. A 2012 book by Japanese journalist Yoji Gomi, which drew on dozens of e-mails and interviews from him, quotes him as calling Kim Jong Un a mere figurehead.

He has also repeatedly criticized dynastic succession in North Korea, saying the transfer of power to the third generation was “unacceptable”.

Malaysia has diplomatic relations with North Korea, and Malaysians can travel to the isolated country visa-free. North Korea has sought to draw in Malaysian tourists, and also imports goods including palm oil from the country.

The Kim clan has ruled North Korea for three generations, starting with Kim Il Sung, and its embrace of dynastic succession is unique among communist countries.

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