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A car leaving the National Forensic Medicine Institute in Kuala Lumpur

The corpse of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam are reportedly being delivered to North Korea. This comes roughly a month and a half after Kim’s was killed in February with the nerve agent VX at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.

While the delivery of Kim’s corpse appears set to put an end to the diplomatic conflict between Malaysia and North Korea - which was implicated in the incident - it also means a full investigation and the arrests of key suspects are now most likely out of the question.

Responding to reporters’ questions on Mar. 26 on the possibility of Kim’s corpse being returned to North Korea, Malaysian Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said it was “very likely,” Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao newspaper reported.

The newspaper also quoted him as saying the body’s handling would be “based on the government’s final decision and the findings of the police investigation.”

The same day, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told reporters the Malaysian Foreign Minister would release an official statement on its negotiations with Pyongyang. Last weekend, a delegation of five North Korean government representatives arrived in Kuala Lumpur for closed-door talks with the Malaysian government, local news outlets reported.

Malaysia

Local Chinese-language news outlet China Press reported on Mar. 27 that the Malaysian government had agreed to turn Kim’s uncremated corpse over to North Korea on the condition of the repatriation of all nine Malaysian citizens currently detained in North Korea.

“The closed-door talks by the North Korean Malaysian government also guaranteed the departure of three suspects in the Kim Jong-nam assassination currently in hiding at the North Korean embassy in Malaysia,” the news outlet reported, adding that Kim’s corpse and the suspects would be flown out of Kuala Lumpur late on Mar. 27 en route to Pyongyang via Beijing.

Many had predicted the Malaysian government could cremate the corpse - if only to prevent another autopsy by North Korea and maintain the cause of death previously ascertained by its own procedure - and negotiate a trade for the nine Malaysians detained in North Korea. But with conflicting local press accounts on whether the corpse was cremated, specifics will only become available with an official announcement by the Malaysian government.

Signs also pointed to the investigation drawing to a close. According to China Press reports, four police officers entered the North Korean embassy on the morning of Mar. 26 and spent around two hours and 30 minutes questioning the key suspects in hiding there: second class embassy secretary Hyon Kwang-song, 44, and Air Koryo employees Kim Wook-il, 37, and Ri Ji-woo, 30. As the embassy is considered North Korean sovereign territory, meaning an investigation can’t be conducted there without North Korea’s consent, this suggests Malaysia held prior discussions with North Korea for at least a formal conclusion to its police investigation into the killing.

The apparent transporting of Kim’s corpse was also observed the same day. Local news outlet New Strait Times reported that Kim’s corpse were transported at around 2 pm on Mar. 26 from the Kuala Lumpur Hospital National Forensic Institute to the Cheras region outside Kuala Lumpur for “religious rites.” The newspaper said it had not been determined whether the corpse was cremated.

Once closure is achieved with the biggest issue in the assassination case - the fate of Kim Jong-nam‘s corpse - North Korea and Malaysia appear set to begin patching up their diplomatic conflict. While Malaysian police have confirmed the identities of the key North Korean suspected in the assassination, all of them have now fled back to the North or are in hiding in the extraterritorial zone of the embassy, all but ruling out any further investigation.

By Hwang Keum-bi, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]