Malaysia has said it wanted the DNA from a next of kin of the murdered North Korean half brother of the leader Kim Jong Un or they will not release the autopsy report or the body of Kim Jong Nam.
Adding to the latest twist, North Korean officials in Kuala Lumpur said they will reject the autopsy report if it was released by Malaysia.
It is believed the autopsy was carried out on Thursday, the day the North Koreans objected to the post mortem by the Malaysian authorities.
It appears the North Koreans will not comply to the Malaysian request, thus putting North Korean and Malaysian ties in the spotlight.
Pyongyang’s ambassador said Malaysian officials may be “trying to conceal something” and “colluding with hostile forces.”
Kim Jong-nam, who was 45 or 46 and had lived in exile for years, suddenly fell ill at the Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday as he waited for a flight home to Macau.
Dizzy and in pain, he told medical workers at the airport he had been sprayed with a chemical and he died while being taken to a hospital.
Selangor Police Chief Abdul Samah Mat said without DNA from a next of kin, they won’t hand over Kim Jong Nam’s body or release the post mortem report, which could reveal the cause of death.
Three people have been arrested so far in relation to Kim’s murder: an Indonesian woman, a Malaysian man and another woman carrying Vietnamese identification.