Kim’s identity confirmed using child’s DNA
KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia found out the identity of Kim Jong Nam’s body based on DNA sample taken from his son, the deputy prime minister said on Wednesday.
Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was murdered on Feb. 13, when Malaysian police say two women smeared super toxic VX nerve agent on his face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
But North Korea has so far not identified him as Kim Jong Nam, who was carrying a passport under the name of Kim Chol when he was murdered. No next of kin has come forward to claim the body.
Investigators “confirmed the identity of the body as Kim Jong-Nam based on the sample obtained from his child,” said Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
“I again confirm that it is Kim Jong Nam... This is based on a sample taken from his son.”
The announcement comes a week after a video of a man claiming to be the son of the slain Mr. Kim surfaced saying he was lying low with his mother and sister.
The governments of the Netherlands, China, the United States, and a fourth unnamed country provided emergency humanitarian assistance to protect the family, Cheollima Civil Defense, the group that posted the video online, said in a statement last week.
An off icial at South Korea’s National Intelligence Service had said the man in the video is Kim Han Sol, the 21-yearold son of Mr. Kim.
The intelligence off icial declined to go beyond identifying Kim Han Sol.
Kim Han Sol is the son of Kim Jong Nam’s second wife, who had been living in the Chinese territory of Macau with Mr. Kim under Beijing’s protection after the family went into exile several years ago.
South Korean intelligence officers say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had issued standing orders for the elimination of his elder half-brother. —