By P Prem Kumar

KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysian health authorities have yet to determine the cause of death of the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, according to officials.

Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah, health department director-general, told a press conference Tuesday that a post-mortem conducted on the body of Kim Jong-nam did not provide any concrete clue on the cause of death.

He said the identification process was also ongoing.

"Until now, Jong-nam's next-of-kin have not come forward to perform deoxyribonucleic acid [DNA] test, for us to verify that the dead body is indeed Jong-nam," he said.

Abdullah also assured that the examination was being conducted by qualified and experienced consultant forensic pathologists, a forensic radiologist and a forensic odontologist.

The comments come after Malaysia's Foreign Ministry summoned the North Korean ambassador, Kang Chol, over his accusation that the government had something to conceal with regard to Kim’s death at Kuala Lumpur International Airport last week.

Kang had also demanded the release of the body without delay and alleged that Malaysia was trying to conceal something and collude with South Korea -- regarded as an enemy force by Pyongyang.

On Tuesday, Abdullah underlined that immediately after the post-mortem examination, “medicolegal specimens were handed over to the Investigating Police Officer… to be sent to accredited laboratories for analysis”.

"These analyses are meant to confirm the identity of the deceased person and also the cause of death; both of which are still pending at the moment,” he said in a statement.

“There has been no second autopsy performed on this deceased person."

Meanwhile, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak criticized the North Korean ambassador for “demeaning and underestimating” Malaysia's capability in handling the matter.

"The statement by the ambassador was totally uncalled for. It was diplomatically rude. But Malaysia will stand firm," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

Razak underlined that as a sovereign country, Malaysia would not be pressured or “bullied” into any form of action that is not deemed correct in regards to the probe.

"As I said before, we have had good relations with North Korea all this while, and we have no reason to paint with a negative brush in terms of the image of North Korea, and we are very objective,” he said.

"Malaysia will stand firm. We will be guided by the principles of the rule of law to find out the truth because the crime was committed in Malaysia," he stressed.