DPRK: Death of citizen a 'conspiratorial racket'

Pyongyang also blames Malaysia's unfriendly attitude in handling case

PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Thursday said the death of a DPRK citizen at Kuala Lumpur last week was an "anti-DPRK conspiratorial racket" launched by the Republic of Korea.

The DPRK also accuses the Malaysian side of showing an unfriendly attitude in handling the case, the official news agency KCNA reported.

A spokesman for the Korean Jurists Committee said an autopsy was unnecessary as the death had been confirmed as being caused by a stroke and the deceased man carried a diplomatic passport, according to the KCNA.

The man died on the journey from a Malaysian airport to hospital. Police identified him as Kim Chol from the DPRK. Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said embassy documents showed the man was Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of the DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, but that was denied by the DPRK ambassador to Malaysia, Kang Chol.

The incident was "undisguised encroachment upon the sovereignty of the DPRK, a wanton human rights abuse and an act contrary to human ethics and morality," the KCNA quoted a statement from the unnamed spokesman.

False reports

The spokesman claimed that the ROK "worked out the scenario" and released false reports that the man was poisoned to death. "It is regretful that only Malaysia is denying such fact," he added.

The spokesman criticized the Malaysian side for conducting an autopsy without any prior agreement with the DPRK or its presence, in disregard of the demand from the DPRK and international law.

Malaysian police on Wednesday reiterated that a DNA test would be needed to identify the dead man from the DPRK before the body could be released. But the DPRK spokesman called the request an "absurd pretext".

"Malaysia is obliged to hand his body to the DPRK side as it made an autopsy and forensic examination of it in an illegal and immoral manner," the spokesman said in the statement, adding that this proves that Malaysia wants to politicize the transfer of the body to the DPRK and suggests the country has "a sinister purpose" in mind.

The statement repeated that the DPRK was ready to send a delegation of jurists to Malaysia for a joint investigation into the case, which was proposed by the DPRK ambassador to Malaysia at a news conference.

Four suspects - a Vietnamese woman, an Indonesian woman, a Malaysian male and a DPRK male - have been arrested so far, according to Malaysian police. However, the cause of death is yet to be determined by lab results.