Forty-one days after he was assassinated in Malaysia, the remains of Kim Jong-nam will be repatriated to his family in Macau.
Sun Daily reports that the body was released today by the Kuala Lumpur Hospital, with the hearse taking the 45-year-old victim’s body to an unknown location — believed to be a funeral parlour.
The repatriation is believed to have been arranged by the Malaysian Foreign Ministry, which is liaising with Jong-nam’s family to receive his body in Macau before tomorrow.
The estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had lived a quiet life in Macau with at least one of his known wives and two of his children. Sources speaking to Reuters noted that he didn’t keep bodyguards around, and dabbled in business ventures in the China-ruled gambling hub.
Jong-nam was poisoned with the banned VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport back on Feb 13. North Korean officials continue to assert that he was not assassinated, and instead had simply succumbed to a heart attack.
Authorities confirmed the identity of Jong-Nam’s body based on a DNA sample taken from one of his children, rubbishing claims made by North Korea that the deceased was simply a citizen named Kim Chol. Kim Chol was the name on the passport Jong-nam used to travel to Malaysia.
Several police officers, including the investigations officer of Jong-nam’s murder, had spent about three hours at the North Korean embassy this morning — purportedly to brief embassy officials before they released the body.
Two women are currently facing murder charges in Malaysia, while three North Koreans are wanted by the police for their suspected involvement in the assassination.
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