Media intrigued by discarded items outside embassy
KUALA LUMPUR: A pile of discarded items, including computer parts, laptops and documents, attracted journalists stationed outside the North Korean embassy here yesterday.
Four boxes and seven plastic bags were placed at the gate along with flower stands and a bouquet of sunflowers left by the Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia group a few days earlier.
The items were apparently disposed off between Saturday night and the early hours of yesterday when no media representative was present. Embassy officials, including counsellor Kim Yu-song, who left the premises before returning an hour earlier, did not mention the items.
Chinese state media had reported earlier that Malaysian embassy staff in Pyongyang were seen burning documents and loading items onto vehicles on Tuesday.
Last week, North Korea ordered Malaysian ambassador Mohamad Nizam Mohamad to leave the country within 48 hours and announced a temporary ban on Malaysians leaving the country the following day.
Within a few hours of the announcement, Malaysia followed suit by announcing that North Koreans would not be allowed to leave the country.
Malaysia declared North Korea’s ambassador, Kang Chol, persona non grata on March 4 for being critical of the handling of the case, and ordered him to leave within 48 hours.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed that the man who was killed at klia2 on Feb 13 was Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Khalid said police might hand Jong-nam’s body to the Health Ministry for the next course of action as his next of kin had not come forward to claim his body.