South Korea confirmed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, died Monday in Malaysia of an apparent poison attack. Two women, thought to be North Korean agents, are suspected of carrying out the assassination, South Korea's spy agency reportedly said.

Malaysian police said Tuesday that Kim Jong Nam was assaulted when he was preparing to board a flight home to Macau from Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday and died while he was being taken to a nearby hospital. Police have launched an investigation into the death. Kim Jong Nam was the eldest son of late North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.

"If the murder of Kim Jong Nam was confirmed to be committed by the North Korean regime, that would clearly depict the brutality and inhumanity of the Kim Jong Un regime," South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is also acting president, told a security meeting Wednesday, adding that Seoul was "keeping close tabs on North Korea's movements."

North Korea's involvement in the killing would also make the case the most high-profile death under Kim Jong Un's regime since his uncle, Chang Song Thaek, was executed in 2013.

Police have arrested a taxi driver who is believed to have picked the two suspected killers from the airport, a Malaysian police officer told the Telegraph. The arrest was made after surveillance footage from the area was analyzed.

"We have already looked through the CCTV footage, hence we managed to arrest the taxi driver who had taken the two women who carried out the assassination," the senior police official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said.

Pyongyang wanted to kill Kim Jong Nam for several years, according to Lee Byung-ho, the director of South Korea's National Intelligence Service, but the plan couldn't be carried out as the 48-year-old was being protected by China, he told South Korean authorities.

Meanwhile, China's Foreign Ministry reportedly said Wednesday it was closely watching the developments in Kim Jong Nam's murder case. 

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