Malaysia PM defends probe into N. Korean’s death

Tensions have been rising between Malaysia and North Korea in the week following the killing.

In a second strongly-worded statement issued last night, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman hit out at North Korea over its allegations against Malaysia’s investigations.

Kang said Malaysia may be “trying to hide something” and that the autopsy on Kim Jong Nam was carried out “unilaterally and excluding our attendance”.

To date, police have under their custody, four suspects, including two women, who were believed to have administered a poisonous substance on Jong-nam which later led to his death. Kim Dong-sik said such a team is characteristic of North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau spy agency.

Wisma Putra also announced in a statement yesterday that Malaysian ambassador to North Korea, Mohammad Nizan Mohammad (pix), has been recalled from Pyongyang.

China added to the pressure by halting coal imports from North Korea for the rest of the year as part of global sanctions in response to a recent ballistic missile test by the isolated regime.

KUALA LUMPUR-North Korea doesn’t have many friends.

Read the whole story from The Washington Post.

Kim Jong Nam had been living in Macau under Chinese protection.

As such, global relations professor at Inha University near Seoul, Nam Change-hee, described Jong Nam’s assassination as “another slap on the face of Beijing”.

Pyongyang should be punished for committing the “act of terrorism, ” he said. “It is for this reason that the information has been made public as and when needed”, he added. There was also no sign of him at the arrival gate.

Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak is defending his country’s investigation into the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half brother in the face of criticism by Pyongyang’s ambassador. “What’s more, Beijing would badly damage its global image by doing so”, a source told SCMP. That was about 12 hours after the attack on Kim Jong Nam. Malaysian police also arrested one North Korean in connection with the attack, and publicly announced the names of four other Northerners it wants to question, but who had left the country soon after the attack.

A grainy closed circuit television footage of the apparent attack has since been leaked to the media.

Then the women turn and calmly walk off in different directions. Malaysia has however stood firm and refused, saying that Jong-nam’s family has to provide DNA proof first of his identity.

“I am not going disclose where they are”, Noor Rashid told a room packed with journalists.