Sources: Authorities mistook slain Kim Jong-nam for South Korean

- Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian authorities wrongly identified the slain half-brother of North Korea's leader as a South Korean national and first alerted Seoul's embassy in Kuala Lumpur soon after his death, sources familiar with the incident told Reuters.

The error did have a silver lining – It enabled Seoul to quickly inform Kuala Lumpur the dead man was probably Kim Jong-nam, the elder half-brother to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.