N. Korea expels M’sian envoy
SEOUL: North Korea has retaliated and designated the Malaysian ambassador to the hermit kingdom as persona non grata and demanded the envoy leave the country within 48 hours from 10am on Sunday, its official KCNA news agency said yesterday.
However, the Malaysian Ambassador to North Korea Mohamad Nizan Mohamad, had already been recalled to Kuala Lumpur for consultation and arrived at the KL International Airport (KLIA) on Feb 22.
North Korean ambassador to Malaysia Kang Chol was declared persona non grata on March 4 and given 48 hours to leave the country after he failed to appear when summoned by Wisma Putra.
His Malaysia Airlines flight to Beijing, China took off from KLIA at 6.25pm Monday, where he is expected to book a connecting flight to Pyongyang, North Korea.
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.
Airport CCTV footage shows two women approaching the 45- year-old victim and apparently smearing his face with a cloth. Police say he suffered a seizure and died less than 20 minutes later. Swabs of his face revealed traces of the VX nerve agent.
Two women -- one Vietnamese and one Indonesian -- are in custody and have been charged with the murder while police are seeking seven North Korean suspects, four of whom left Malaysia on February 13, the day of the assassination.
Police last week released the only North Korean they had arrested, citing a lack of evidence.