Malaysian armed guards on Tuesday stood watch at the hospital holding the body of Kim Jong Nam, the assassinated half-brother of North Korea’s leader, amid
KUALA LUMPUR/BEIJING/NAM DIHN, VIETNAM – Malaysian armed guards on Tuesday stood watch at the hospital holding the body of Kim Jong Nam, the assassinated half-brother of North Korea’s leader, amid reports his son had come to Kuala Lumpur to claim the remains.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s ambassador to Pyongyang said Tuesday the investigation into the death is being conducted in an impartial manner, rejecting accusations from the North that the probe was politically tinged.
Mohamad Nizan Mohamad spoke in China’s capital, Beijing, while in transit to Malaysia to where he had been recalled following the death last week in the Southeast Asian nation of Kim.
Mohamad said the country’s investigators were proceeding in a professional manner and would “be very objective and fair to everybody.”
“I think the investigation is still ongoing, so just wait and see for that. And we can assure you of the impartiality of the investigation itself because there is no reason for us to be sided with anybody,” Mohamad said.
In Malaysia, a convoy of four unmarked vehicles entered the hospital compound in the early hours of the morning, with around 30 Malaysian special forces securing the area before all of them left by midmorning.
A white police van was seen leaving at 4 a.m., an AFP journalist said.
The body of Kim — assassinated last Monday at Kuala Lumpur airport — has been at the center of a diplomatic row between Pyongyang and Malaysia, after North Korea insisted it be returned and objected to an autopsy being performed.
But Malaysia rejected the request, saying the remains must stay in the morgue until a family member comes forward to identify them with a DNA sample.
On Monday night Kim’s son Kim Han Sol was due to arrive in Kuala Lumpur from Macau, local media and intelligence sources said, but AFP was not immediately able to verify his presence.
