Malaysia said on Friday that it would order all North Korean diplomats to leave the country within 48 hours over the escalation of a diplomatic dispute over Malaysia’s decision to extradite a North Korean criminal suspect to the United States.
Just hours after Malaysia’s announcement, North Korea said it was ending diplomatic relations with Malaysia because it “carried out super-laser hostile actions … under US pressure.” North Korea called the allegations of money laundering “absurd construction and (a) sheer conspiracy”, which the United States recounted and warned that Washington would “pay a fair price.” This is the latest development of the growing hostility between Washington and Pyongyang as the North Ramp pressures the Biden administration over the nuclear deadlock.
The Malaysian Ministry said in a statement that the government will “issue an order for all diplomatic staff of the Embassy (North Korea) in Kuala Lumpur and their dependents to leave Malaysia within 48 hours from today.” It added that Malaysia was now forced by North Korea’s decision to close its embassy in Pyongyang. Observers believe that no Malaysian diplomat is currently in North Korea and the operation of the embassy was suspended in 2017.
Relations between North Korea and Malaysia have been almost frozen since the assassination of the brutal stepbrother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
Malaysia’s Foreign Ministry website said the North Korean embassy is being led by Kim Yoo Song, Chare DeFair and the councilor and six other employees.
“Yes, we will be closed.” Now we are discussing the plans with our employees here and liaising with our government.
North Korea has long used Malaysia as an important economic center where it handled trade, labor exports, and some illegal businesses in Southeast Asia. Experts say North Korea is taking a tough stand on extradition because it sees it as a tactic of pressure against the North.
“North Korea is taking a hard line because it feels it should not return (after extradition) because it will have a war of nerves with the Biden government over the next four years,” said Nam Sung-woo, a professor At Korea University of South Korea.
Mr. Nam said that North Korea is also concerned that similar cases involving North Korean nationals may occur in other Southeast Asian countries.
Threatening to cut ties with Malaysia was one of the North’s strongest options for expressing its anger with the Biden administration, without ultimately risking nuclear negotiations with Washington, Hong Min said That a senior analyst at Seoul’s Korea Institute for National Integration.
North Korea has insisted it will not engage in negotiations with Washington unless it considers Pyongyang’s “hostile” policy. But experts say that North Korea will eventually try to return to diplomacy to find ways to relieve sanctions and revive its economic economy.
Earlier this month, Malaysia’s top court ruled on North Korean Mun Chol Myong, who described the US charge as politically motivated. Mun had lived in Malaysia for a decade and was arrested in May 2019 after US authorities requested his extradition.
Mr. Mun refuted the US allegations in his affidavit that he was involved in supplying luxury goods from Singapore to North Korea in violation of UN sanctions. He denied that he had looted the money through front companies and issued bogus documents to support illegal shipments to his country.
Following that decision, Mr. Mun’s family hired a lawyer to challenge the validity of the extradition. Lawyer Emile Ezra said that after the new legal bid focused on Mun’s authority, the court refused to accept his affidavit and also imposed an injunction to stop his extradition.
The North Korean statement states that Mr. Mun has been sent to the United States. Mr. Ezra said that the police had not responded to his query and that he could not confirm if Mr. Mun was still in Malaysia. He said that he had received information from the jail on Wednesday that Mun had been handed over to police custody.
Home Ministry officials in Malaysia could not immediately be reached for comment.
North Korea and Malaysia established diplomatic relations in 1973, but their ties suffered a major setback in 2017 over the assassination of Kim Jong Nam.
Two women – one Indonesian and the other Vietnamese – were charged with the murder of Kim Jong Nam by sniffing her face with a VX nerve agent in association with four North Koreans. The day Kim died, four North Koreans fled to Malaysia. The women were later released.
Malaysian authorities have never officially accused North Korea of ​​involvement in Mr. Kim’s death, but prosecutors made it clear throughout the trial that they suspected the North Korean relationship. North Korea denied that the victim was Kim Jong Nam and disputed that there was a role in his death.
South Korea’s espionage service said North Korea tried to kill Kim Jong Nam for many years, though he once sent a letter to Kim Jong Un begging for himself and his family members after an assassination attempt. Was sent. Long-time North Korea watchers believe that Kim Jong-un ordered his brother’s assassination as part of efforts to oust potential rivals and tighten their grip on power.
For Malaysia’s first diplomatic title, Malaysia revoked the visa-free entry for North Koreans and expelled North Korea’s ambassador, before North Korea barred all Malaysians from exiting the country. .
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