Kim ID confirmed as Najib calls for unity
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s police chief yesterday confirmed that the man assassinated at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport last month was Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un.
“We’ve now established that Kim Chol is Kim Jong-nam,” Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar told a news conference, but he declined to give details of how the body’s identity was confirmed. “For the security of the witnesses so I’m not going to tell you how it was done,” he said.
Malaysian authorities had earlier declined to officially confirm the victim’s identity or release his body, saying they needed a DNA sample from next-of-kin.
The 45-year-old was carrying a passport bearing the name of Kim Chol when he was attacked on Feb 13 with the lethal nerve agent VX by two women.
His wife and children, who were living in exile in the Chinese territory of Macau, have since gone into hiding over fears that his 21-year-old son, Kim Han-sol, could be seen as a potential rival by his uncle Kim Jong-un in a country roiled by bloody purges.
Also yesterday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called for unity as he tried to bring home nine Malaysians stuck in North Korea amid a growing row over the murder, while warning Pyongyang not to abuse Malaysia’s “hospitality”.
North Korea barred Malaysians from leaving the country on Tuesday, sparking tit-for-tat action by Malaysia as relations soured over its probe.
In a blog posting, Mr Najib said Malaysia would fall back on its experience dealing with crises such as the mysterious disappearance of Malaysia airlines flight MH370 where multiple countries were involved in the search.
“I want to call on all Malaysians, including the leaders of the government and the opposition, to unite in giving us full support towards all efforts that are ongoing to resolve this problem,” Mr Najib said.
“Malaysia always ensures good relations with all countries. However, this does not mean any one of them can abuse our good treatment that Malaysia has given all this while and break the laws of our country, or do anything they like without respecting Malaysia as a sovereign nation.”
Malaysian police have identified eight North Koreans in connection with the case. They say three are still in Kuala Lumpur, hiding at the North Korean embassy.
Malaysia is one of the few countries that has for decades maintained ties with the isolated North Korea. But relations plunged in the wake of the murder.