Kim Jong Nam’s Identity Confirmed Based on Fingerprints Obtained From China

Ahmad Zahid said there were 315 North Koreans in Malaysia.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters outside parliament on Tuesday the body has been embalmed so it can be preserved longer.

Malaysian police said that eight North Koreans are suspected of being involved in the killing, along with the two women.

The group were working in Sarawak on Borneo island, Malaysia said.

Kim Jong-nam was not known to be seeking political power, but his position as eldest son of the family that has ruled North Korea since it was founded could have made him appear to be a danger to his half-brother Kim Jong-un.

The situation worsened subsequently, when the Malaysian Government also banned North Koreans in Malaysia from leaving the country, after North Korea barred 11 Malaysians from leaving that country.

North Korean ambassador to Malaysia Kang Chol also accused the Malaysian government of being part of a conspiracy against the reclusive country. The two countries recently announced a ban that prevent each other’s citizens from leaving their countries. “But they (North Korea) have to ask themselves if they have listened to previous demands by worldwide bodies”, the minister said. The Malaysian authorities say there are about 1,000 North Koreans now in Malaysia.

North Korean passport holders can travel visa-free to 39 countries, a number that has dropped from past year.

Kim died within 20 minutes of the attack, before reaching the hospital.

Relations between North Korea and Malaysia had been particularly warm, with a reciprocal visa-free travel deal for visitors, prior to the high-profile killing.

Three Malaysian embassy staff and six family members are stranded in North Korea as a result.

After North Korea, Malaysia are bound to face Lebanon in Kuala Lumpur on June 13.

Malaysia had previously been referring to the victim as Kim Chol – the name used on Kim Jong Nam’s North Korean passport – and had refused to make an alternate declaration on his identity until DNA evidence had been provided. Kim Jong-nam was living in the Chinese territory of Macau.

The suspects, Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong and Indonesian Siti Aisyah, have been charged with his murder.