This is the moment a North Korean ambassador was squashed between other passengers as he was made to fly home from Malaysia in economy class.
Kang Chol was escorted through Kuala Lumpur International Airport and was then pictured taking his seat next to a child on a flight to Beijing, China.
Minutes earlier, the North Korean fired a final salvo at Malaysia over its investigation into the assassination of the half-brother of leader Kim Jong-Un, describing the probe as biased.
Speaking at the terminal before his flight left, ambassador Kang Chol criticised what he called a ‘pretargeted investigation by the Malaysian police’.
The murder of Kim Jong-Nam with VX nerve agent at the same airport last month sparked an acrimonious dispute between the two countries.
North Korea retaliated late Monday by ordering Malaysia’s ambassador to Pyongyang to leave within 48 hours, the North’s official media reported.
The diplomat had already been withdrawn by his own government for consultations.
North Korea has not acknowledged the dead man’s identity but has repeatedly criticised the murder investigation and autopsy, accusing Malaysia of conniving with its enemies.
‘They have conducted the autopsy without the consent and attendance of the DPRK (North Korea) embassy and later arrested a DPRK citizen without any clear evidence showing his involvement in the incident,’ ambassador Kang said.
South Korea has blamed the North for the murder. It cites what it says was a standing order from leader Kim Jong-Un to kill his exiled half-brother, who may have been seen as a potential rival.
In a sign of the security tensions police armed with assault rifles had cordoned off the entrance to North Korea’s embassy before the envoy left.
Kang departed in a black chauffeured Jaguar – the North Korean flag which denotes an ambassador now removed from its bonnet.
He checked in a Philips TV, three suitcases and four boxes vacuum-wrapped and stamped with the words, DPRK Pyongyang.
Senior government officials told AFP he left at 6.25pm on flight MH360 for Beijing, shortly after the deadline for his expulsion at 6pm.
Pictures appeared to show his boarding pass with a name given as Kim Jongamiss.
Malaysia declared Kang persona non grata on Saturday and gave him 48 hours to leave the country after he failed to apologise for his criticism of the investigation.
The diplomatic dispute erupted last month when police rejected North Korean diplomats’ demands to hand over Kim’s body.
-Kang then claimed the investigation was politically motivated and said Kuala Lumpur was conspiring with ‘hostile forces’ – a reference to the North’s arch-rival, Seoul.
Malaysia summoned Kang for a dressing-down, with Najib saying the ambassador’s statement was ‘diplomatically rude’.
Malaysia has also recalled its envoy to Pyongyang and cancelled a rare visa-free travel deal with North Korea. It ordered the ambassador expelled after he failed to present himself at the foreign ministry when summoned on Saturday.
The lawyer of a Vietnamese woman accused of murdering the half-brother of North Korea’s leader questioned Malaysia’s ability to assess the nerve agent used in the killing and called Monday for a second autopsy. Kim Jong-Nam 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. Doan Thi 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. Huong is pictured aboveHuong’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 told AFP.He also called for VX experts from Japan and Iraq to be involved in the findings, as well as ‘pathologists from North Korea’.While North Korea has not acknowledged the dead man’s identity, it has repeatedly disparaged the murder investigation and has accused Malaysia of conniving with its enemies.A diplomatic dispute erupted last month when Malaysian police rejected North Korean diplomats’ demands to hand over Kim’s body. Huong’s lawyer also called for VX experts from Japan and Iraq to be involved in the findings, as well as ‘pathologists from North Korea’South Korea says North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un had ordered the killing of his estranged half-brother, who had lived overseas for years but had voiced criticism of the regime, and engaged two outsiders to carry it out.Traces of the poison, which is banned around the world, were found on Kim’s face and eyes, police said.One of the suspects was said to have exhibited signs of VX poisoning – vomiting and dizziness – while in custody, but police did not say which woman had fallen ill.Four North Korean men wanted for the murder are still at large.Police are also seeking the second secretary in Kuala Lumpur’s North Korean embassy to assist in the murder, and have issued an arrest warrant for a North Korean airline employee.
The foreign ministry has said the expulsion is ‘part of the process by the Malaysian government to review its relations’ with North Korea.
The row also extended to sport, with Malaysian football authorities banning the national team from playing an Asian Cup qualifying match in Pyongyang – citing security threats in the wake of the expulsion.
Police are seeking seven North Korean suspects in their probe, four of whom left Malaysia on the day of the murder. But on Friday they released the only North Korean they had arrested for lack of evidence.
Two women – one Vietnamese and one Indonesian – have been charged with the actual murder. Airport CCTV footage shows them approaching the heavyset 45-year-old and apparently smearing his face with a cloth.
Police say he suffered a seizure and died less than 20 minutes later. Swabs of the dead man’s face revealed traces of the VX nerve agent.
S Selvam, the lawyer for one of the women, Doan Thi Huong, suggested today that Malaysia does not have the expertise to identify the VX nerve agent.
He added that he would write to Malaysia’s police chief asking for another autopsy.
‘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?’ he told AFP.
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