Row over N Korean killing in Malaysia deepens

MALAYSIA summoned the North Korean ambassador yesterday for a dressing-down over Pyongyang’s attack on its investigation into the assassination of leader Kim Jong-un’s brother, deepening a diplomatic row.

Five North Koreans are in the frame for last week’s airport killing, drawing a furious response from Pyongyang, accusing Kuala Lumpur of conspiring with hostile forces to damage its reputation.

Malaysia recalled its envoy to Pyongyang and summoned the North Korean ambassador to Kuala Lumpur, who was told his accusation was baseless, the foreign ministry said.

“The ministry emphasised that as the death occurred on Malaysian soil under mysterious circumstances, it is the responsibility of the Malaysian government to conduct an investigation [into] the cause of death,” it said.

The row erupted when Malaysian police rejected North Korean diplomats’ demands to hand over Kim Jong-nam’s body after he was apparently poisoned at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

He suffered a seizure and died on the way to a hospital.

Ambassador Kang Chol said last week outside the mortuary where Jong-nam’s body is being held that Malaysia was being pressured by South Korea in a bid to defame its northern neighbour.

Seoul has pointed the finger of blame for the attack at the North, citing a standing order from Kim Jong-un to kill his elder sibling and a failed assassination bid in 2012 after he criticised the regime.

“The Malaysian government takes very seriously any unfounded attempt to tarnish its reputation,” the ministry said, after the ambassador’s meeting with Bilateral Affairs Deputy Secretary-General Raja Nushirwan Zainal Abidin.

The Malaysian ambassador in Pyongyang has also been recalled to Kuala Lumpur for consultations.

Police said on Sunday they believed five North Koreans were involved in the killing, four having fled the country on the day of the murder.

Officers have arrested one North Korean living in Kuala Lumpur, an Indonesian woman and her Malaysian boyfriend, and a Vietnamese woman.

Three other North Koreans were wanted for questioning, police said.

At least three of four North Korean men at large took a flight from Jakarta to Dubai on the evening of the murder, Indonesian immigration said.

They had travelled from Malaysia to Jakarta, and after Dubai returned to Pyongyang via Russia, Malaysian media reported.