Malaysian police confirm DPRK man killed in airport to be Kim Jong Nam

Malaysian police for the first time confirmed on Friday that a Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) man killed in Kuala Lumpur airport to be Kim Jong Nam, half-brother of DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.

"We have now established that Kim Chol is Kim Jong Nam," national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told a press conference here, but declined to say if a DNA test had been carried out to identify the body.

"I will not tell you how we did it due to the safety and security of witnesses," he said, adding the police have fulfilled the requirements of laws on Kim Jong Nam's identification.

Malaysian police had previously identified the man as Kim Chol by citing his passport, and insisted that they needed family members to provide DNA samples to further identify the body.

He said the body would be handed over to the health ministry as police had completed the investigation on the identity.

The police have informed the relatives, but "it seems no one is taking (the body)," he added.

During the press conference, Khalid declined to elaborate further on the motive behind the killing.

Malaysia has declined the request by the DPRK government to hand over the body, triggering a diplomatic row between the two countries. In tit-for-tat moves, Malaysia and DPRK have both expelled the ambassador of the other's side and banned each other's citizens from leaving Malaysia or DPRK.

Khalid did not reveal the details of the negotiations, which are key to help Malaysia bring back nine of its nationals back from DPRK.

Malaysia has indicted two females suspects, one Vietnamese and one Indonesian, with murder as the police believed the two smeared a lethal chemical weapon called VX nerve agent on the face of Kim Jong Nam, which killed him within 15 to 20 minutes.

The police said four other DPRK suspects have fled the country. They also want to question three people in connection with the case, including a second secretary of the DPRK embassy in Kuala Lumpur and an employee of the DPRK national carrier Air Koryo.

Khalid said the police will continue to wait for the three to come forward, or arrests warrants will be issued.

Source: Xinhua