Deputy IGP: Jong-nam complained of dizziness

KUALA LUMPUR: Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, complained that two unidentified women wiped a liquid on his face and that he was feeling dizzy, shortly before he was pronounced dead upon arrival at Putrajaya Hospital.

Relating the official version of the case, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Noor Rashid Ibrahim said the incident occurred around 9am on Feb 13 at KLIA2.

“A Korean male approached an officer at the Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd customer service centre and informed her that two unidentified women wiped his face with a liquid and that he was feeling dizzy,” he told a press conference at the Bukit Aman police headquarters here yesterday.

“The receptionist sought the help of a police officer on duty to take him to the clinic on level 2 of KLIA2. After assessing his condition, they decided to send him to Putrajaya Hospital. Upon arrival at the hospital at 11am on the same day, the doctor on duty pronounced him dead,” he said.

Noor Rashid said that based on his personal document, which was his passport, the deceased was identified as Kim Chol.

The passport had the serial number 836410070 and the dead man was 47.

Noor Rashid said the man had arrived from Macau via AirAsia flight AK8321 on Feb 6 and was scheduled to depart to Macau on flight AK8320 at 10.50am on Feb 13, the day of the incident.

Asked to confirm the deceased was indeed Jong-nam, Noor Rashid said: “I will answer this way. I have to base it on evidence. At this juncture, based on the documents that were found on the deceased, the deceased is Kim Chol,” he said.

“We hold to the fact now that he is Kim Chol,” he added.

“This is why I would like to stress the process of physical identification and scientific identification, or what we call DNA test, which is very important to us,” he said.

He also called on the family or the next of kin to come forward to co-operate with the police in determining the identity of the deceased.

Noor Rashid said so far, four suspects have been apprehended.