North Korean suspects allowed to leave because police had already questioned them

PETALING JAYA: Police said today that the three North Koreans connected to the murder of Kim Jong-Nam were allowed to leave Malaysia because they were not needed anymore in the investigations.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar (pix) confirmed that police had indeed obtained statements from the three men that have been seeking refuge in the North Korean embassy since the murder of Jong-Nam.
"We have obtained statements from the three of them at the North Korean embassy before they left for North Korea. We got their statement and we are satisfied and we are done with them," he said at a press conference today.
Khalid confirmed that there were three men who were questioned and allowed to leave the country instead of two.
The three men are Hyon Kwang Song, the second secretary at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Kim Uk Il, a North Korean state airline employee and Ri Ji U, also known as James.
The three men took the MH360 flight at 6pm yesterday to Beijing en route to Pyongyang.
"We wanted their statements as they were a part of our investigations. They were seen at certain locations in CCTV footage we got, so we had to question them.
"Now we are finished with them, we don't have grounds to hold them further," he added.
When asked if the investigation will be compromised by letting them go, Khalid said that it would not be.
He also said that investigations are not over yet as there are still four key suspects at large.
"We still need the four. The four which we believe have returned to Pyongyang. If the North Koreans want a fair and transparent investigation they need to hand over the four suspects," he said.
An Interpol red notice has been issued for the four suspects who are heavily linked to the assassination.
However, the move is unlikely to result in any arrests as North Korea isn't a member of Interpol.
The four named in the Interpol red notice are Ri Ji Hyon, 33, Hong Song Hac, 34, O Jong Gil, 55, and Ri Jae Nam, 57.
When asked how long will the police wait till these four give themselves up, Khalid said that they are willing to wait indefinitely and as long as it takes.
When asked if there could be more suspects, he said that there could be more but was not willing to say how many as it would jeopardise investigations.
Malaysia yesterday agreed to hand over the remains of Kim Jong-Nam and the three suspects to Pyongyang in exchange for nine Malaysians that were held there.
The Malaysians have since returned to Malaysia this morning.