Malaysia has given Kang Chol, North Korea’s ambassador to Malaysia, 48 hours to exit the country after the diplomatic ties between the two nations reached a breaking point. This situation arose from the murder of the half-brother to North Korea’s leader.
Kim Jong-Nam, 45, was assassinated on February 13, with a lethal nerve agent, VX. North Korea is yet to acknowledge the identity of the deceased but has consistently belittled the investigations into the murder, alleging that Malaysia is conspiring with its foes.
“The ambassador has just been declared persona non-grata,” Anifah Haji Aman, the Foreign Minister of Malaysia, said after North Korea failed to apologize to Malaysia for their assaults against the investigations.
In a Saturday statement that he issued, he said, “Malaysia will react strongly against any insults made against it or any attempt to tarnish its reputation.” The statement added, “Ambassador Kang Chol failed to present himself at the ministry when summoned and is expected to leave Malaysia within 48 hours.”
The deadline for Mr. Kang to exit the country expires at 6 pm. South Korea claims that their bitter rivals North Korea planned the murder of the estranged brother of Pyongyang’s leader. According to them, it was a standing order from North Korea’s leader to assassinate his estranged half-brother who could become his potential rival.
The drastic measures taken by Malaysia is a way through which the government is reviewing its ties to the North Koreans.
The disagreement arose when North Koreans did not receive the body of the deceased from the Malaysian police as they had demanded. The Malaysian police were asking for the next of kin of the deceased to come forward so that they can release the body to them. The rejection was not interpreted well because Mr. Kang alleged that there was vested political interest and “hostile forces” were conniving to push for the investigations to be done.
In response to the comments made by Kang, Malaysia interpreted them as rude and summoned the ambassador to meet with Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak, for a reprimand. Malaysia issued a deadline date for an apology to be submitted on February 28, but they have not yet issued one, and it does not seem that there will be one anytime soon.
In response to that Malaysia canceled the visa-free travel that North Koreans enjoyed and recalled their ambassador to North Korea.
Seven suspects from North Korea are still under the Malaysian police radar with links to the murder and they released one suspect from North Korea due to lack of evidence on Friday.
Malaysia deported Ri Jong-Chol, and he said that the Malaysian police tried to bribe him with a healthy and fulfilling life in Malaysia if he made a false confession. The investigation was “a conspiracy to impair the dignity of the Republic (North Korea).”
Malaysia also charged a Vietnamese, and an Indonesian woman with the murder of Kim Jong-Nam after CCTV footage from the Kuala Lumpur airport showed them approaching him and smearing him with a garment apparently. According to the Malaysian police, the deceased suffered a seizure and passed on after 20 minutes. VX nerve agent was found on the face of the dead man.
The nuclear-armed state, which had few friends, is now further isolated after its ties to Malaysia broke.
