KUALA LUMPUR: Kim Jong-nam’s next-of-kin have already been dealing with the police, says the Health Minister.

As such, the Health Ministry will take its instructions from the police when it comes to dealing with the body, said Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam (pic).

“The decision has to come from the police because this is a medico-legal case, so we will follow whatever decision is made,” he told reporters at Parliament lobby on Thursday.

“We have said that we wanted the next-of-kin, by normal procedure, to claim the body.

“But if they have given instructions to the police on how to manage the body, and the police feel that these instructions are sufficient from a legal point of view, then the police will instruct us on what to do,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi earlier confirmed that the deceased was indeed the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The identity was confirmed after one of Jong-nam’s children provided a DNA sample for verification, he said on Wednesday without elaborating.

Jong-nam was killed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 on Feb 13. Two women, Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong and Indonesian Siti Aisyah, have been charged with the murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.-thestar