By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AA) - Police named four North Koreans as primary suspects on Sunday in the assassination case of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The men were named as Ri Ji-hyon, 33, Hong Song-hac, 34, O Jong-gil, 55, and Ri Jae-nam, 57.
Speaking at a press conference in the capital Kuala Lumpur, senior police official Noor Rashid Ibrahim said the four men were believed to have fled Malaysia on Feb. 13, the same day Jong-nam was assassinated allegedly by two unidentified women inside the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
"We have established contacts with foreign authorities to locate them. Investigations are underway," Ibrahim said.
He declined to say whether the four men had direct connections to the killing. He also refused to reveal where the four men departed to on the day of the murder, claiming it could affect police investigations.
So far, police have arrested four people in the case.
Ibrahim added the Malaysian government had given two weeks to Jong-nam's next of kin to claim his body from the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital.
"I am giving two weeks, not more. If not claimed by then, the next course of actions would be informed to the media," he said.
He added that no family members of Jong-Nam had come forward yet to claim the body.
The first post-mortem on the cause of Jong-nam's death had proved inconclusive. Ibrahim said Malaysian authorities are awaiting toxicology and pathological reports to determine the cause of death. The toxicology report is expected to take two weeks to complete.