Malaysia declared late on Saturday that it would expel the ambassador of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) amid a row over the investigation into a DPRK man’s death at a Kuala Lumpur airport.
Malaysia‘s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday night declared Kang Chol, the DPRK ambassador to Malaysia, as “Persona Non Grata” and asked him to leave Malaysia within 48 hours starting from 18:00 on Saturday.
According to a statement issued by Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, neither Kang nor any other DPRK diplomat showed up after the ambassador was summoned by the Malaysian Foreign Ministry at 18:00 local time on Saturday.
Anifah said in the statement that the Malaysian Foreign Ministry had sent a Diplomatic Note to the DPRK embassy on Saturday evening to inform the DPRK government that Kang should leave Malaysia within 48 hours from the scheduled time of the meeting.
The expulsion of the ambassador came after Kang and the DPRK government accused Malaysia of deliberately hiding the truth and colluding with hostile foreign forces in the investigation into the death of the DPRK man on Feb. 13 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
In response, the Malaysian side said its investigation is just, impartial and transparent, which has been clearly shown by the release and deportation of Ri Jong Chol, a DPRK man who was arrested as a suspect involved in the airport killing.
