Malaysia expels North Korea ambassador

Envoy declared persona non grata amid a diplomatic row over the assassination of North Korean leader's half-brother in Kuala Lumpur.

North Korea’s ambassador to Malaysia, Kang Chol speaks during a news conference at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur on February 20, 2017. Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters

Kuala Lumpur // Malaysia said on Saturday it would expel the North Korean ambassador in a deepening diplomatic row over the assassination of the half-brother of Pyongyang’s leader at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

“The ambassador has been declared persona non grata,” Malaysia’s foreign ministry said, adding it had demanded but not received an apology over Pyongyang’s attack on its investigation of the case.

“The expulsion of the DPRK [North Korea] Ambassador is... an indication of the government’s concern that Malaysia may have been used for illegal activities,” the statement added.

Kim Jong-nam, 45, was poisoned last month with VX, a nerve agent so deadly that it is classed as a weapon of mass destruction.

The dramatic killing at Kuala Lumpur airport prompted an international probe and lurid stories of North Korea’s Cold War-style tradecraft.

South Korea has blamed the North for the murder, citing what they say was a standing order from leader Kim Jong-un to kill his exiled half-brother who may have been seen as a potential rival.

North Korea, which has not acknowledged the dead man’s identity, has vehemently protested against the investigation, saying Malaysia is in cahoots with its enemies.

In response, Malaysia has cancelled a rare visa-free travel deal with North Korea – a key conduit to the outside world – and recalled its envoy to Pyongyang.

North Korea also warned the US on Saturday that it will “pay dearly” if it puts Pyongyang on a terror list over the killing.

South Korean and Japanese media, have since reported that the US has been mulling placing the North back on its terror list, which includes Iran and Syria.

“The US will keenly realise how dearly it has to pay for its groundless accusations against the dignified” North if it puts it back on the terror list, the regime’s foreign ministry spokesman said.

The spokesman maintained that Pyongyang opposed “all forms of terrorism” and accused the US of trying to tarnish its reputation.

South Korea has blamed the North for the murder, saying there was a standing order from leader Kim Jong-un to kill his exiled half-brother who may have been seen as a potential rival.

However, the only North Korean arrested over the assassination on Saturday denounced Malaysia’s probe into the murder as “a conspiracy to impair the dignity” of his country.

Ri Jong-chol, who was released and deported on Friday due to lack of evidence, said police had offered him a comfortable life in Malaysia in return for a false confession.

“But no way. No matter how good a life it could be, it is still not as good as my own motherland,” he said in Beijing.

Mr Ri’s release came days after two women – one Vietnamese and one Indonesian – were charged with murdering Kim Jong-nam.

Airport CCTV footage showed the women approaching the heavyset 45-year-old and apparently smearing his face with a cloth.

Police say he suffered a seizure and died less than 20 minutes later. Swabs of the dead man’s face revealed traces of VX nerve agent.

On Friday police issued an arrest warrant for a North Korean airline employee, Kim Uk-il, 37, in connection with the murder.

They also requested that Hyon Kwang-song, second secretary at the North Korean embassy, assist the probe.

Both are believed to be in Malaysia. Four others are thought to have fled to Pyongyang on the day of the assassination.

* Agence France-Presse