A van from the health ministry was seen entering the compound yesterday at about 7.20pm, according to The Star. The body was loaded into the vehicle, which then sped off 10 minutes later, the report said.

Although security personnel told the daily they did not have any information on the body that was removed, the remains of Jong Nam had been kept at the mortuary there since Feb 15, two days after the North Korean was murdered in Sepang.

There has also been no information forthcoming from authorities as to where Kim Jong Nam’s body would be taken, if it was to be removed from HKL.

Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was killed on Feb 13 while awaiting a flight to Macau. He was attacked by two women who wiped his face with a substance later identified as VX nerve agent, a chemical poison classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations.

Jong Nam died within 20 minutes of the attack.

The two women, a Vietnamese and an Indonesian, were charged with murder on March 1.

Police handed over Jong Nam’s body to the health ministry on Friday.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar had said that the North Korean’s identity had been conclusively determined although he refused to reveal how authorities had arrived at the conclusion.

“We have fulfilled the requirements of the laws on his identification. For the safety of the witnesses, I am not going to tell you how it was done,” he told reporters.

When asked if the authorities had obtained DNA samples from Jong Nam’s family members, Khalid maintained his silence on the matter.

The following day, Deputy Health Minister Dr Hilmi Yahaya said Jong Nam could be buried in Malaysia if no next of kin claims the body. He added that this was in accordance with health ministry procedures.

However, he said the ministry was in no hurry to do so as there were no rules on how long bodies can be kept in Malaysian hospitals.