In tit-for-tat move, North Korea orders expulsion of Malaysian ambassador

The announcement came shortly after the North’s ambassador Kang Chol flew home from Kuala Lumpur.

North Korean ambassador to Malaysia Kang Chol, who is expelled from Malaysia, arrives at Kuala Lumpur international airport in Sepang, Malaysia March 6, 2017. Lai Seng Sin/Reuters

SEOUL // North Korea said on Monday it would expel Malaysia’s ambassador after its own envoy was ordered out of the South-east Asian nation, in an increasingly bitter row over the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korea’s leader, in Kuala Lumpur.

“The foreign ministry of the DPRK [North Korea] notifies that the Malaysian ambassador to the DPRK is labelled as a persona non grata,” the North Korean state news agency said, demanding that the ambassador leave the country within 48 hours.

The KCNA report came shortly after the North’s ambassador Kang Chol flew home from Kuala Lumpur.

Before leaving, Ambassador Kang fired a final salvo at Malaysia over its probe into the assassination of Kim, describing the investigation as biased.

He disparaged what he called a “pretargeted investigation by the Malaysian police”.

Malaysia’s ambassador to Pyongyang had already been recalled for consultations as the two countries traded barbs over an investigation into the killing of the North Korean leader’s half-brother with VX nerve agent last month.

On Monday, Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak said the decision to expel the North’s ambassador sent a clear message.

“It means that we are firm in defending our sovereignty and dignity,” Mr Najib said. “Don’t ever insult our country and don’t try to cause disruptions here.”

Meanwhile, the lawyer of a Vietnamese woman accused of murdering Kim questioned Malaysia’s ability to assess the nerve agent used in the killing and called for a second autopsy.

Kim was poisoned with a lethal dose of VX, which is listed by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction, after he arrived to board a flight at Kuala Lumpur International Airport last month.

Airport CCTV footage shows two women approaching the 45-year-old and apparently smearing his face with a cloth. Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, from Vietnam, have been charged with the murder and face the death penalty if found guilty.

Ms Huong’s lawyer on Monday suggested that Malaysia does not have the necessary expertise in the VX nerve agent, adding that he planned to request a second post-mortem.

“How is [it] that my client is accused of using VX nerve agent in her hand and applying it to the face of the deceased and not suffering any illness herself?” lawyer S Selvam said.

He also called for VX experts from Japan and Iraq to be involved in the findings, as well as “pathologists from North Korea”.

* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press