THE ''ASSASSINS'' TOP : FILM

''ASSASSINS'' covers murder of Kim Jong Un's half brother. This upcoming documentary details the  2017 case.

LOS ANGELES : nearly four years after the assasination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's estranged half-brother Kim Jomg Nam, a new documentary seeks to shed light on the brazen airport murder and the involvement of the two young women accused of carrying it out.

US director Ryan White spent two and a half years investigating the case for Assassins, which will be released in cinemas and digitally on- demand this Friday.

The film focuses on the two women - Indonesian Siti Asitah and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong - who were charged with poisoning Kim by smearing his face the banned chemical weapon VX and had, at one point, faced a mandatory death penalty in Malaysia.

Defense lawyers maintained they were pawns in an assassination orchestrated by North Korean agents. The women said they thought they were a part of a reality prank show and did not know they were poisoning Kim.

Siti was freed in March 2019 after a Malaysian court dropped charges against her. Prosecutors dropped a murder charge against Huong, who pleaded guilty to a, lesser charge of causing harm using dangerous means, and she went free the following May.

South Korean and US officials have said the North Koreans regime had ordered the assassination of Kim, who had criticised his family's dynastic rule. Pyongyan has denied the allegation.

For Assassins, White's extensive research included travel to Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. Doan and Aisyah were shown the documentary earlier this week and while the film got their blessing, Doah expressed regret over some scenes, White said.

''Her first reaction was, 'I wish I hadn't smiled so much,' '' he said, refrring to scenes showing the return to Vietbam of Doan, who White said had become a target for vitriol on social media and has retreated into her shell a lot more.''

''They're both lovely and thankfully survived this experience, but I think their lives will never be the same, unfortunately,'' he said. [Reuters]