In the latest twist in the suspected assassination of the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Malaysian police say they are now hunting for four North Korean suspects.
Kim Jong Nam died on Monday after being assaulted at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where he was catching a flight to Macau. South Korean and U.S. officials have said he was assassinated by North Korean agents.
Malaysian police arrested a North Korean man on Friday in connection with the murder, and said Sunday during a press conference that they were looking for four more North Korean suspects.
The four North Koreans flew out of Malaysia, but police told a packed press conference that they would not reveal the flight's destination, just that they were coordinating with Interpol to track them down.
The police also said they are trying to get next of kin to come to Malaysia to assist with the investigation.
"I can confirm today that they (four North Korean suspects) have left our country the very same day the incident happen," deputy inspector-general of police Noor Rashid Ismail said.
NBC News asked whether the suspects were traveling on diplomatic passports like the victim, but police said this was not the case.
"The four suspects are holding normal passports, not diplomatic passports," he said.
NBC news also asked what law enforcement agencies were involved in the manhunt.
"Next plan is to get them. We of course have international cooperation especially with Interpol, bilateral involvement with the country involved, we will go through those avenues to get the people involved."
Malaysian police said the cause of death was still not known and that they were waiting for pathology and toxicology tests after conducting a post-mortem.
A diplomatic spat between North Korea and Malaysia over the body has escalated. North Korea has said it would reject Malaysia's autopsy report and accused Malaysia of "colluding with outside forces" — a veiled reference to rival South Korea.
The Malaysian police said they were trying to contact the next of kin of Kim Jong Nam. "The body must be identified. The most eligible to identify the body physically is the next of kin," Noor Rashid said.
"We will verify again through scientific means, so it is very important for close family members to come forward to assist us in process of identification base on legal procedures under Malaysian law."
The police are giving the next of kin two weeks to claim the body. South Korea's intelligence agency told lawmakers in Seoul that Kim had been living with his second wife in the Chinese territory of Macau, under China's protection.
NBC News is studying flight records from the day of the attack which reveal the suspects could have flown direct to Pyongyang, or taken a flight via another Asian airport like Bangkok or Beijing.
South Korea told NBC News Sunday that it believed the North Korean regime was behind the murder.
Jeong Joon-hee, spokesman at the South Korea's Unification Ministry that handles inter-Korean affairs said: "Although we will have to wait for the final investigation result, given the circumstances and various information, our South Korean government is sure that it was Kim Jong Nam and that North Korea is behind all this considering that the five suspects are of North Korean nationalities,"
"North Korea has been committing anti-human crimes and terror, the South Korean government and the international community are seriously worried about the reckless and cruel act and we are watching closely," Jeong said.
Two female suspects, one an Indonesian and the other carrying Vietnamese travel documents, have also been arrested, while a Malaysian man has been detained.
Kim Jong Nam, who is believed to be in his mid-40s, was once considered a successor to the leadership. But he fell out of favor when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a fake passport in 2001. He said he wanted to visit Disneyland Tokyo — a symbol of the Westernization demonized by North Korea.
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