Malaysia expels N Korean ambassador over airport murder

It’s unclear if Malaysia’s reciprocal banning of North Korean citizens leaving the country applies to diplomats, which would also put Kuala Lumpur in violation of the convention.

Kim Jong-nam was poisoned with the lethal VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur global airport in Malaysia last month.

In a dramatic escalation of their dispute, North Korea said Tuesday that it was barring all Malaysians from leaving the country until there was a “fair settlement” over the assassination of the half-brother of North Korea’s leader.

On Monday, the North said it had ordered Malaysia’s ambassador out of the country in a tit-for-tat after Malaysia expelled North Korea’s envoy over the killing of Kim Jong Nam at Kuala Lumpur’s airport.

The two countries already kicked out each other’s ambassadors over the murder – Malaysia first, on Saturday, and then North Korea on Monday, according to The Associated Press (although the Malaysian government had beaten Pyongyang to the punch by recalling their top diplomat back on February 20).

Mr Kang told reporters as he prepared to leave that Malaysia was taking “extreme measures” that would do “great harm” to bilateral relations.

Two women, Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong and Indonesian Siti Aisyah, have so far been charged with Kim Jong-nam’s murder and face a possible death sentence if found guilty.

According to Sung Wuk Ahn, a professor of global relations at the University of Malaya, there are around 1,000 North Koreans, including coal miners, working on special visas in Malaysia.

The diplomatic rift led to Malaysia canceling a rare visa-free travel deal with North Korea, a key conduit for North Koreans to the outside world. But on Friday they released the only North Korean they had arrested for lack of evidence.

North Korea is trying to retrieve Kim’s body, but has not acknowledged that the victim is Kim Jong Un’s half brother, as Malaysian government officials have confirmed.

The file photo shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) and his murdered half-brother Kim Jong-nam.

The Star newspaper quoted a Malaysian Foreign Ministry official as saying that its embassy staff in Pyongyang were safe.

Malaysian authorities also announced on Monday that the government had chose to bar the country’s national football team from competing in Pyongyang on March 28 in an Asia Cup 2019 qualifying match.

The reports about the terror designation come after a Texas congressman introduced a bill last month that would put North Korea back on the list.

Malaysia also pledged to work with other worldwide organizations to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.

Matters turned worse Tuesday as, according to the Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang summoned Malaysia’s ambassador to tell him that none of his countrymen could leave North Korea.

He said that no apology had come and none appeared forthcoming, and that North Korean Embassy officials also failed to turn up for a meeting Saturday at the foreign ministry, so Malaysia chose to expel the ambassador.

“Perhaps he sees it as his responsibility to North Korea’s leadership, but we make decisions based on our sovereignty and our country’s laws”, he said.

This version of events is supported by Joo Il Kim, a North Korean defector living in the United Kingdom who set up the International North Korean Association for Human Rights and Democracy.