KUALA LUMPUR: Patterns or permanent markings on the body like tattoo cannot be evidence to confirm identity in the investigation of the murder case of North Korean Kim Chol on Feb 13, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar here.
“Cannot” — this was Khalid’s brief reply when asked to comment on news reports in a local newspaper which suggested that the identity of Kim Chol, who has been widely reported to be Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, could be determined by tattoos on his body.
When contacted by Bernama in a Whatsapp message yesterday, Khalid however, refused to comment about permanent markings or tattoos on Kim Chol’s body. According to media reports, there were tattoos on Jong-nam’s stomach depicting the image of a man with two Japanese carp fishes while on his left arm was the image of Jong-nam taken in 2013 in a hotel in Singapore.
Kim Chol carrying a passport (numbered 836410070), born in Pyongyang on June 10, 1970 was reported to have entered Malaysia on Feb 6.
On Feb 13, Jong-nam was at the KL International Airport 2 (klia2) to board a flight to Macau when two women suddenly appeared before him and allegedly wiped his face with their hands which were laced with what was later identified as VX nerve agent. — Bernama