SEPANG (THE STAR / ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The North Korean man who was arrested to assist in investigations into the killing of Kim Jong Nam has been remanded in Malaysia for seven days beginning Saturday (Feb 18).

Selangor police chief Datuk Seri Abdul Samah Mat confirmed this when contacted.

He said the remand order was issued by the Sepang magistrate's court.

Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar was reported as saying that based on the identity card (i-KAD) in his possession, the suspect, who was detained at 9.50pm Friday, was identified as Ri Jong Chol, a citizen of the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea.

Following the arrest, local and international media gathered at the Sepang police headquarters from 8am on Saturday, expecting the remand proceedings to be conducted there.

A car from the North Korean Embassy was seen entering the compound of the police headquarters about 4.15pm.

The car was seen leaving the police headquarters almost an hour later.

At about 6.15pm, three police vehicles were seen entering the compound and a man, who looked like a Korean, got out from one of the cars under heavy guard.

Earlier, at about 11.15am, a car belonging to the Vietnamese Embassy was seen entering the police headquarters, leaving about 20 minutes later.

On Thursday, the remand proceedings involving two foreign women, one of them Vietnamese, were conducted at the district police headquarters.

Kim Jong Nam, the elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) at 8am on Monday to board a flight to Macau.

An hour later, a woman suddenly covered his face with a cloth laced with poison.

Jong Nam, who was travelling under the name "Kim Chol," died on the way to Putrajaya Hospital. - Bernama