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The Latest: North Korea says women suspects should be freed

Journalists wait outside North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. The women suspected of fatally poisoning a scion of North Korea's ruling family were trained to coat their hands with toxic chemicals then wipe them on his face, police said Wednesday, announcing they were now seeking a North Korean diplomat in connection with the attack. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian) Journalists wait outside North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. The women suspected of fatally poisoning a scion of North Korea's ruling family were trained to coat their hands with toxic chemicals then wipe them on his face, police said Wednesday, announcing they were now seeking a North Korean diplomat in connection with the attack. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

By Associated Press February 22, 2017 1 min read

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – The Latest on the investigation into the killing of Kim Jong Nam, Kim Jong Un’s half brother, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (all times local):

4 p.m.

North Korean diplomats have called for the immediate release of the two “innocent women” arrested in connection with the apparent poisoning last week of a scion of the North Korean ruling family.

A statement released Tuesday by North Korea’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur dismissed the police account of Kim Jong Nam’s death – that the women had coated their hands with toxins and then rubbed them on his face as he stood in front of a ticketing kiosk at a Kuala Lumpur airport.

If the poison was on their hands, the statement asked “then how is it possible that these female suspects could still be alive?” One of the women is Indonesian, the other is Vietnamese.