No need to dispute Malaysia's forensic expertise - Dr Subramaniam

Foreign countries should not dispute the expertise and capabilities of Malaysia's forensic team to conduct the post mortem relating to the death of Kim Jong Nam, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.

He said Malaysia has a highly qualified forensic team with vast experience in the field that had provided its expertise to solve various cases within and outside the country.

"We got an experienced team. Our team was in Netherlands with international forensic teams for the MH17 case, and also in Indonesia after the AirAsia 8501 plane tragedy to assist them...we know exactly what to do and what are the process.

"There is no question on the capacity of our team to identify the actual thing. Yesterday I was with them (forensic team), they explained to me, of course, we have to get the DNA profile (Kim Jong Nam)," he said.

He was speaking to reporters after officiating at the earth-breaking ceremony of the Gamma Knife Centre in the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (PPUKM), here today.

"If the son comes (blood related son), then his DNA would help us in the identifying process, but in the absence of that, we will use other elements which we have, to confirm the identification," he said.

Jong Nam, who is the elder half-brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, died on Feb 13 while on the way to the Putrajaya hospital.

Earlier, Jong Nam was at klia2 on that day to board a flight to Macau when a woman suddenly covered his face with a cloth laced with what is believed to be poison.

He had come to Malaysia on Feb 6 and carried a passport with the name of Kim Chol. -- BERNAMA