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PUTRAJAYA: All North Korean diplomatic personnel and their dependents in Malaysia went home today following Pyongyang’s decision on Friday to sever ties with Kuala Lumpur.
The 33 people, including several children, arrived at the KL International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang around 11:45 a.m.
They are scheduled to fly on Shanghai Airlines flight FM886 to Pudong in China at 4.10pm and then transit Beijing before continuing their journey to their home country.
At KLIA, the police escorted them to the check-in desk for the check-out procedure, which took about an hour.
The Charge d’Affaires of the North Korean Embassy, Kim Yu Song, and Councilor Song Ki Chol were seen helping the rest of the embassy staff and their families to register before everyone went through the VIP lane.
Throughout the departure process, they were assisted by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) staff. The police kept media personnel at a safe distance to provide them with privacy.
The embassy staff and their dependents, all wearing face masks, remained silent and continued the search procedure without paying attention to the large group of reporters and cameramen who had gathered at the airport.
Following North Korea’s decision to sever diplomatic relations with Malaysia, Wisma Putra, the Malaysian Foreign Ministry, issued instructions for embassy staff and their dependents to leave Kuala Lumpur within 48 hours.
Earlier today, around 11 a.m., reporters gathered at the North Korean Embassy in Jalan Batai, Bukit Damansara, saw staff and their dependents leave the premises in a rented bus, an embassy car, and several private vehicles. .
Charge d’affaires Kim got out of the embassy car and spoke to reporters, expressing his disappointment at having to leave Malaysia.
Pyongyang announced on Friday that it was severing diplomatic ties with Malaysia after a Malaysian court ruled earlier this month that a North Korean businessman could be extradited to the United States to face money laundering charges.
Wisma Putra in a statement on the same day said that he deeply regretted North Korea’s decision and that, in turn, Malaysia will close its
Pyongyang Embassy, whose operations were suspended in 2017.
Malaysia and North Korea established ties in 1973. Relations saw remarkable achievements on the diplomatic and trade fronts until 2017 when Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was assassinated in Malaysia. Called
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