Police Will Issue Statement On Authenticity Of Dead North Korean's Passport - Malaysian Immigration Chief

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), Feb 15 (Bernama) -- The police will issue a statement on the authenticity of the passport belonging to a North Korean man who died at a Malaysian airport Monday, said Immigration director-general Mustafar Ali. He said the Immigration authorities were helping the police in the probe as it was not a Malaysian passport. "Whether the passport is genuine or false, we leave that to the police to make the announcement. His was not a Malaysian passport. An investigation was carried out by the police. I'm not going to eleborate on that," he said to reporters here. Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said Tuesday that the North Korean man who sought help at the customer service counter at KL International Airport 2 (klia2) went by the name of Kim Chol. The passport stated that Kim Chol was born in Pyongyang on June 10, 1970. Foreign media had reported that Kim Chol was actually Kim Jong-nam, an elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Kim Chol reportedly died on the way to hospital. Mustafar said the North Korean national had not yet gone past the Immigration checkpoint at klia2 when he sought help. Kim Chol was reportedly at klia2 at 8am to board a flight to Macau an hour later. -- BERNAMA