KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 20 – North Korean Ambassador to Malaysia Kang Chol today denied that a man murdered at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) last week was not the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and demanded to be part of a joint investigation into the case.
He read a statement to reporters after he was summoned to the Malaysian foreign ministry in the morning. Malaysia has also recalled its ambassador to Pyongyang amid an escalating spat over the alleged assassination of Kim Jong-nam at KLIA2 last week.
He had accused Malaysia of “colluding and playing into the gallery of external forces” last Friday, after authorities conducted an autopsy against Pyongyang’s wishes, and refused to hand over Kim Jong-nam’s body even though he held a diplomatic passport.
In a statement released after the North Korean Ambassador to Malaysia was summoned this morning, the foreign ministry called the criticisms “baseless” and said the “government takes very seriously any unfounded attempt to tarnish its reputation”. The ministry said the Malaysian Ambassador in Pyongyang has been recalled to Kuala Lumpur for consultations.
The ministry also “emphasised that as the death occurred on Malaysian soil under mysterious circumstances, it is the responsibility of the Malaysian Government to conduct an investigation to identify the cause of death. This investigation has been conducted in the manner prescribed by Malaysian law”.
Malaysian police have insisted they will only release Mr Kim’s body to the next-of-kin, and have given his relatives two weeks to claim it. Kim Jong-nam, 47, former North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Il eldest son, died on Monday after an attack by two women at KLIA2, where he was catching a flight, AirAsia AK 8380, to Macau at 10.05am.
Two female suspects, one an Indonesian called Siti Aishah, 25, and the other carrying Vietnamese travel documents, named Doan Thi Huong, 28, have also been arrested, while a 47-year-old Malaysian man, who has expertise in chemistry, has been detained after police raided a condominium in Jalan Kuchai Lama on Friday. Another four North Korean suspects fled on the day of the murder, and are believed to have returned to Pyongyang.
