This will be useful if the remains have to be sent to North Korea, says a Kuala Lumpur Hospital source.

It is learnt that the body was embalmed on Sunday over fears that it would begin to rot during the wait for the next of kin to identify the remains at the hospital mortuary.

Jong Nam was at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) on Feb 13, awaiting a flight to Macau, when two women attacked him, wiping his face with what was later identified as VX nerve agent.

He was rushed to the Putrajaya Hospital but died on the way.

The hospital source told Bernama that bodies that were not embalmed could only last in the mortuary freezer for one to two weeks. After that, they would begin to rot.

“As the investigation into the murder of Jong Nam may take a long time, the management decided to embalm the body to prevent rotting which could jeopardise the probe,” the source said.

The source added that if the government decided to send the remains to North Korea soon, the body could be taken there before decomposition sets in.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said on Wednesday that Kuala Lumpur Hospital had embalmed Jong Nam’s body to prevent decomposition.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Noor Rashid Ibrahim confirmed yesterday that Jong Nam’s next of kin had left it to the Malaysian government to manage the remains.