Family member or relative of Kim Jong-nam to arrive on Saturday to identify body

Kim Jong-Nam. -AFP filepic

MUAR: A family member of Kim Jong-nam is expected to arrive in Malaysia by tomorrow to identify and claim his body, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Noor Rashid Ibrahim said.

He said none of Kim Jong-nam’s relatives had come forward to identify the body.

The next of kin will have to identify the remains and undergo a DNA test, he said, adding that this will help resolve several matters connected to the murder.

“Either his children or a close relative will come, and we will wait for their arrival,” he said when met during the official opening of Galeri Darurat Bukit Kepong (Bukit Kepong Gallery of the Emergency Period) here.

It is not known whether that family member will be Kim Han-sol, the 22-year-old eldest son of Jong-nam.

There was rife speculation that Han-sol had arrived at KLIA2 from Macau on Monday night to identify and claim his father’s remains, which are being kept at the Hospital Kuala Lumpur morgue. Police later denied the reports.

Noor Rashid said what was important was for the police to be allowed to investigate the case in accordance with international law.

“Police only want to investigate the cause of death together with its motive as it happened in our country,” he added.

Jong-nam, 45, the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un, was assassinated on Feb 13 at KLIA2 by two women who were believed to have poisoned him.

Four people have so far been arrested. They include Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 28, Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, North Korean Ri Jong-chol, 47, and Siti Aisyah’s boyfriend, Malaysian Muhammad Farid Jalaluddin.

The remand for Thi Huong and Siti Aisyah was extended for a further seven days from Thursday while the boyfriend has been released on police bail.

In Port Klang, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said the post-mortem result on Jong-nam is expected to be released next week.

In the meantime, he said the ministry was waiting for the next of kin to identify the body and provide DNA samples for identity confirmation.

“As far as our side is concerned, the cause of death of the victim should be ascertained by next week,” he told reporters.

The minister said his ministry will work closely with police to enable identification of the body.