KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — No cause of death has been determined yet for the exiled member of North Korea’s ruling family who died last week after apparently being poisoned in a Kuala Lumpur airport, officials said Tuesday.
The autopsy showed no evidence of a heart attack in Kim Jong Nam’s death, or sign of puncture wounds, Director General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah told reporters.
Asked if there was any indication that he had been poisoned, Noor Hisham said medical specimens from the autopsy had been forwarded to experts to determine the cause of death.
No family members have come forward to claim the body. Kim, the older half brother of North Korea’s ruler, had spent most of the past 15 years living in China and Southeast Asia. He is believed to have had at least three children with two women.
The attack spiraled into diplomatic fury when Malaysia refused to hand over Kim’s corpse to North Korean diplomats after his death, and proceeded with an autopsy over the diplomats’ objections. The two nations have made a series of increasingly angry statements since then, with Malaysia insisting it is simply following its legal protocols, and North Korea accusing Malaysia of working in collusion with its enemy, South Korea.
South Korea’s spy agency believes North Korea was behind the killing, but has produced no evidence.
Police have so far arrested four people carrying identity documents from North Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Those arrested include two women who were allegedly seen approaching Kim on Feb. 13 as he stood at a ticketing kiosk at Kuala Lumpur airport.
Associated Press