hankyoreh

Ri Tong-il

A senior North Korean delegation visiting Kuala Lumpur in connection with the killing of Kim Jong-nam announced plans to discuss claiming his corpse with the Malaysian government.

Ri Tong-il, a former deputy North Korean ambassador to the UN and a member of the delegation, spoke with reporters on the afternoon of Feb. 28 in front of the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

“We’re visiting Malaysia to discuss and reach an agreement on human rights issues,” Ri said.

As matters to discuss during the delegation’s stay, Ri mentioned the “transfer of the corpse of a North Korean citizen [Kim Jong-nam],” the “release of North Korean citizens arrested by Malaysian police,” and the “matter of strengthening friendly relations between North Korea and Malaysia.” He did not respond when asked for a position on the Malaysian government’s announcement of plans to reconsider diplomatic relations with Pyongyang.

Meanwhile, Malaysian police investigating Kim’s death submitted an investigation report to the Attorney General for North Korean suspect Ri Jong-chol, Vietnamese suspect Doan Thi Huong, and Indonesian suspect Siti Aisyah, with indictments on murder charges predicted to come as early as this week, local news outlet The Star reported.

By Hwang Keum-bi, staff reporter

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