THE Malaysian police said yesterday that four suspects from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) related to the death of a DPRK man believed to be Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of the DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un, had fled the country.

A postmortem on the victim had been conducted, but the cause of death remained unknown as the police were waiting for the pathology and toxicology results, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Noor Rashid Ibrahim told a press conference.

The 46-year-old man was found dead last Monday at the Kuala Lumpur airport. But the deputy police chief said they still needed DNA samples from the next-of-kin of Kim to help identify the dead man.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had earlier confirmed that the dead man was Kim Jong Nam.

Kim’s family members would be given a priority to claim the body, but so far no one had made such requests, Rashid added.

He said the police were seeking four more suspects from the DPRK, whom they believed had fled the country on the same day of the killing. Police were also seeking three men who might assist the investigation, including a DPRK male.

“Our job is to reveal the truth, to get facts and evidence, and bring the perpetrators to justice,” he said.

Malaysian police said Saturday they had detained a DPRK man suspected to be involved in the murder. The male suspect was identified as “Ri Jong Chol,” who was born May 6, 1970, in the DPRK, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement, citing information on the ID card in the suspect’s possession, known in Malaysia as “i-Kad,” used by foreign workers living in the country.

Abdul Samah Mat, police chief of Selangor state who leads a criminal investigation in the case, told Xinhua that the suspect was caught Friday after police forces raided a condominium in Selangor.

He declined to reveal the links between the DPRK man and two female suspects detained previously, one with a Vietnamese travel document and the other an Indonesian. A local Malaysian male has also been detained to assist investigation.

The DPRK ambassador to Malaysia had said his country would “categorically reject the postmortem results,” blaming Malaysia for delaying the release of the body and conducting the autopsy unilaterally.

In response to the allegations, Rashid said the police were following the Malaysian law and legal requirements.

“Every death in a suspicious manner must be investigated, which we have to put in a report and submit a report to the court. In this case we are investigating a sudden and suspicious death,” he said.

(Xinhua)