‘Pyongyang move akin to political blackmail’

PYONGYANG’S move to bar Malaysians from leaving North Korea and demanding a quick end to Kim Jong-Nam’s murder probe is tantamount to political blackmail, said Oh Ei Sun, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

He said holding Malaysian diplomats and their families is not as simple as taking hostages in return for a safe passage for the North Korean agents who were involved in the assassination; it could be Pyongyang’s tactic to force Malaysia to summarily wrap up investigations into the case as well as declare that Jong-Nam died of a heart attack.

Its (Pyongyang’s) intention is to get Malaysia to absolve North Korea of blame in Jong-Nam’s assassination, Oh said in a report in China Press yesterday.

“Malaysia cannot, for the sake of ending the row, give in to North Korea’s demand and say Jong-Nam’s assassination is a case of death by natural causes.”

He said Malaysia must carry out a thorough investigation into JongNam’s death and North Korea’s stubborn attitude will only strengthen the international community’s negative impression of Pyongyang.

On the safety of Malaysians in North Korea, Oh said as the leader of a tyrannical government, Kim Jong-Un would definitely dare to harm them, adding that the Malaysian government should be very worried about the safety of its citizens in North Korea.

Meanwhile, the daily opined that China, which has openly called Malaysia a true friend as well as fought battles alongside North Korea, is the best third party to mediate the dispute between Putrajaya and Pyongyang.