World\Asia-Pacific

Malaysian police arrest female suspect related to death of DPRK man

Xinhua | Updated: 2017-02-15 19:15
KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian police said Wednesday that a female suspect was arrested in the investigation related to the death of a man from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

National police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said in a statement that the suspect was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport's second terminal, where the man looked for help after feeling unwell on Monday. He died on the way to hospital.

The female suspect, who was carrying a Vietnamese passport, was identified from the surveillance video footage at the airport, Khalid said, adding that the suspect was alone at the time of arrest.

The Malaysian police said earlier that the 46-year-old man who died Monday was holding a DPRK passport under the name Kim Chol.

But South Korean media reported that the man was Kim Jong Nam, the elder half-brother of DPRK's top leader Kim Jong Un.

His body was taken to a hospital in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday for postmortem to ascertain the cause of his death.