Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said on Friday (10 March) that his team was ready to release the body of the slain Kim Jong-nam to the country's health ministry at any time.

He officially confirmed the identity of the man murdered at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 13 February as Kim Jong-nam, the exiled half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

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According to reports, it is for the first time that Malaysian police confirmed the identity of Jong-nam, who was carrying a passport under the name of Kim Chol. He died after being allegedly poisoned with a highly toxic VX nerve agent while he was waiting to board a flight to Macau at the airport.

"We have now established that Kim Chol is Kim Jong-nam," New Strait Times quoted him as saying at a press conference.

Khalid said the investigating team had obtained all the required information to identify the body of the victim. However, he did not give further details about how they reached the conclusion that Chol was indeed Jong-nam.

"For the safety of the witnesses, we will not be divulging any explanation. I am not going to say more than that," he said.

Malaysia has insisted that the body of the deceased would be handed over to a relative only after a DNA test is conducted.

Reports emerging from Pyongyang have identified Jong-nam as an ordinary citizen.

His death sparked a diplomatic row between Malaysia and North Korea and led both countries to expel ambassadors of each other's country.

Meanwhile, Khalid refused to comment on the recent video of Kim Han-sol, who claimed to be the son of Jong-nam. The 21-year-old broke his silence over his father's alleged assassination in a video that surfaced on 7 March.

Kim Jong Nam
Malaysian police have now confirmed Kim Chol is Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un Kyodo/Reuters