Malaysia to cancel visa-free entry for North Koreans as relations fray after Kim murder
Only North Korean arrested over dramatic killing to be deported
Malaysia will cancel visa-free entry for North Koreans entering the country from March 6, state news agency Bernama reported yesterday, as diplomatic ties between the two countries frayed further following the murder of Kim Jong-nam at the Kuala Lumpur airport.
North Koreans will be required to obtain a visa before entering Malaysia for national security reasons, Bernama reported citing the deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
Malaysia is one of the few countries that North Koreans could visit without a visa.
The move comes two weeks after Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was killed at the Kuala Lumpur airport with a toxic nerve agent.
Diplomatic ties between Malaysia and North Korea have soured since the murder, with South Korea and US saying it was an assassination organised by North Korean agents.
Deportation
The only North Korean arrested over the dramatic assassination is to be deported, Malaysia said yesterday.
Attorney general Mohammad Apandi Ali said 47-year-old Ri Jong-chol would be released and deported today. “He is a free man. His remand expires and there is insufficient evidence to charge him,” Apandi said.
Ri was arrested days after Kim suffered an agonising death. Police say he suffered a seizure and died less than 20 minutes later, without reaching hospital.
Swabs of the dead man’s face revealed traces of the VX nerve agent, a synthetic chemical so deadly that it is classed as a weapon of mass destruction.
In a press conference at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, the North’s deputy envoy to the United Nations, Ri Tong-Il, reiterated Pyongyang’s assertion that Kim had died of a heart attack and that South Korea was peddling conspiracy theories regarding the use of nerve agents to damage the North’s image.
“A strong indication for the cause of death is a heart attack,” said Ri who flew to Malaysia three days ago.