(2nd LD) Malaysian police identify 4 more N. Korean suspects in Kim Jong-nam's death

(ATTN: UPDATES with reported arrival of suspects in Pyongyang in 3rd para, Seoul's response in last para; MINOR edits throughout; CHANGES dateline)

KUALA LUMPUR/SEOUL, Feb. 19 (Yonhap) -- Malaysian police said Sunday that they have identified four more North Koreans as suspects in the recent killing of Kim Jong-nam, a half brother of the North's leader Kim Jong-un.

The four additional suspects left Malaysia on Monday, the day Kim Jong-nam, the eldest son of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, was killed at a Kuala Lumpur airport, the Malaysian police said during a press conference.

Singapore's Channel NewsAsia later reported that the four men arrived in the North Korean capital Pyongyang on Friday after traveling through Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Russia.

That day, police in Malaysia arrested a North Korean man, named Ri Jong-chol, in connection with Kim's murder. The 47-year-old Ri was arrested at 9:50 p.m. in Selangor state and became the fourth suspect arrested in the case. Earlier, police arrested one Vietnamese woman, one Indonesian woman and one Malaysian man as suspects.

Ri was in possession of an "i-Kad" card, an identification card issued by the Malaysian government to registered foreign workers.

The four people have been under investigation. Malaysian police also said they have been chasing after three other people presumed to be North Koreans and possibly connected to the case.

So far, at least five North Koreans have been confirmed to be involved in the murder, including Ri.

Kim was killed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport after being attacked by the two Southeast Asian women who are suspected of using some sort of poison. He was waiting to board a flight to Macao.

The Malaysian police said that an investigation is still under way to determine the exact cause of his death.

It has yet to be confirmed whether North Korea was behind the latest killing, but Seoul's spy agency said Wednesday that Kim Jong-un issued a "standing order" to murder his sibling after he assumed power in late 2011.

Following the Malaysian police's latest announcement, South Korea's unification ministry said the government "judges" that the North was behind the killing as five suspects were identified as North Koreans.

(END)