KUALA LUMPUR (BERNAMA) - Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar reiterated today that only the next-of-kin of murdered North Korean Kim Jong Nam can claim his body now kept at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

The next-of-kin would have to subject themselves to a DNA test and confirmation prior to collecting the body at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine at the hospital, Tan Sri Khalid said.

He said the police would not accept requests to claim the body from anyone else, including the North Korean Embassy or delegation, because of the standard operating procedure in the country on the claiming of bodies.

"The police have to match the DNA and confirm it. Only then can we hand over the body to the next-of-kin," he said to Bernama.

Mr Khalid was asked to comment on an international media report that North Korea had sent a delegation to Malaysia to claim the body of Kim Jong Nam, estranged elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.