N. Korea orders Malaysian envoy to leave
Expelled NK ambassador fires final salvo at Kuala Lumpur airport
North Korea said Monday it would expel Malaysia’s ambassador after its own envoy was ordered out of the Southeast Asian nation, in an increasingly bitter row over the assassination of Kim Jongnam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
“The Foreign Ministry of the DPRK [ North Korea] notifies that the Malaysian ambassador to the DPRK is labeled as a persona non grata... and demanded that the ambassador leave the DPRK,” state news agency KCNA said, giving a 48hour deadline.
The KCNA report came shortly after the North’s Ambassador Kang Chol flew home from Kuala Lumpur.
The expelled ambassador Kang fired a final salvo in Malaysia Monday over its investigation into the assassination of the half- brother of Pyongyang’s leader, describing the probe as biased.
Speaking at Kuala Lumpur International Airport before his flight left, he criticized what he called a “pretreated investigation by the Malaysian police.”
“They have conducted the autopsy without the consent and attendance of the DPRK [ North Korea] embassy and later arrested a DPRK citizen without any clear evidence showing his involvement in the incident,” Ambassador Kang said.
Kang departed in a black chauffeured Jaguar – the North Korean flag which denotes an ambassador now removed from its bonnet. He checked in a Philips TV, three suitcases and four boxes vacuum- wrapped and stamped with the words, DPRK Pyongyang.
Senior government officials told AFP he left at 18: 25 on flight MH360 for Beijing, shortly after the deadline for his expulsion at 18: 00.
Malaysia declared Kang persona non grata on Saturday and gave him 48 hours to leave the country after he failed to apologize for his criticism of the investigation.
Malaysia’s ambassador to Pyongyang had already been recalled for consultations as the two countries traded barbs over an investigation into the killing of the North Korean leader’s half- brother with VX nerve agent last month.
North Korea has not acknowledged the dead man’s identity but has repeatedly attacked the murder investigation and demanded a second autopsy, accusing Malaysia of conniving with its enemies.
Kang claimed the investigation was politically motivated and said Kuala Lumpur was conspiring with “hostile forces” – a reference to the North’s archrival, Seoul.
Malaysia summoned Kang for a dressing- down, with Najib saying the ambassador’s statement was “diplomatically rude.”
Malaysia has also cancelled a rare visa- free travel deal with North Korea. It ordered the ambassador expelled after he failed to present himself at the foreign ministry when summoned on Saturday.
The Malaysian foreign ministry has said the expulsion is “part of the process by the Malaysian government to review its relations” with North Korea.
The row also extended to sport, with Malaysian football authorities banning the national team from playing an Asian Cup qualifying match in Pyongyang – citing security threats in the wake of the expulsion.