Malaysia is to deport a North Korean held in connection with the death of Kim Jong-nam and cancel visa-free entry for all North Koreans, as diplomatic ties between the two countries frayed further following the killing at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The relationship between Malaysia and North Korea has soured since the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jung-un was killed two weeks ago at the airport with a toxic nerve agent VX.
South Korean intelligence and US officials say the killing was an assassination organized by North Korean agents, though the only suspects charged in the case so far are an Indonesian woman and a Vietnamese woman.
Photo: AFP
Police are also holding one North Korean man and want to question seven others, including a senior official in the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
However, the detained North Korean, Ri Jong-chol, will be deported today, as there is insufficient evidence to charge him, Malaysian Attorney General Mohamed Apandi Ali told reporters in a text message yesterday.
Ri was arrested in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 17 with a work permit that had been valid until Feb. 6.
It is unclear what Ri’s suspected role was in the killing.
Security camera footage showed two women assaulting Kim Jong-nam at the airport as he was waiting to board a flight to Macau, where he had been living with his family under Chinese protection.
Malaysian police say they smeared his face with VX nerve agent, a chemical classified by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction, and that Kim Jong-nam died within 20 minutes of being attacked.
North Korea, which has not accepted that the dead man is Kim Jong-nam, yesterday said that there were strong indications a heart attack killed the North Korean national.
Speaking to reporters outside the embassy in Kuala Lumpur, former North Korean deputy ambassador to the UN Ri Tong-il questioned the alleged use of VX, saying samples should be sent to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
North Korea had earlier tried to convince Malaysia not to perform an autopsy on Kim Jong-nam’s body and to release three suspects detained in connection with the killing.
A high-level North Korean defector said he is certain Kim Jong-un was behind the attack.
Thae Yong-ho told reporters from Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV that it was unthinkable that Kim Jong-un would not have approved of the high-profile assassination of his half brother.
In the report broadcast yesterday from Seoul, Thae said: “North Korea is a society ruled in terror. For a big decision like killing Kim Jong-nam, no one could make a decision like that except Kim Jong-un.”
The women, who could face the death penalty, have told diplomats from their countries that they had believed they were carrying out a prank for a reality television show.
Police say four of the other North Korean suspects have fled Malaysia. Three other suspects — a diplomat, an Air Koryo official and another North Korean — are yet to come forward.
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Malaysia will cancel visa-free entry for North Koreans from Monday.
Additional reporting by AP
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