China’s foreign ministry said Friday it assisted in transferring the body of a DPRK man murdered in Malaysia, but did not confirm that the remains of DPRK leader Kim Jong Un's half-brother Kim Jong Nam had transited through Beijing on their way back to Pyongyang.
At a regular press briefing in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang cited a statement by Malaysian authorities that said the body of a DPRK man returned to Pyongyang on Friday via Beijing, and said China provided “necessary assistance” in accordance with international conventions, Xinhua news agency reported.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced on Thursday in a statement on his website that “following the completion of the autopsy on the deceased and receipts of a letter from his family requesting the remains be returned to North Korea, the coroner has approved the release of the body.”
He added that Kuala Lumpur and Pyongyang had agreed to release nationals of each other’s countries, who had been held amid a diplomatic row over the investigation into Kim’s death.
Kim Jong Nam was killed on February 13 at Kuala Lumpur airport with a toxic nerve agent.
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