Malaysia accuses North Korea of taking citizens 'hostage'

Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
AP

Malaysia today accused North Korea of taking its citizens “hostage” by banning them from leaving the pariah state as the row grew over the assassination of its leader Kim Jong-un’s half-brother.

Kim Jong-nam was poisoned with the lethal VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur international airport in Malaysia last month.

Malaysia has refused to hand over his body to North Korea which is suspected of being behind the killing as the poison was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory.

In a dramatic escalation of the diplomatic row between the countries, Pyongyang today banned Malaysians from leaving the repressive state “until the safety of the diplomats and citizens of (North Korea) in Malaysia is fully guaranteed through the fair settlement of the case that occurred in Malaysia”, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

The act is a blatant breach of diplomatic protocols and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak responded angrily.

He denounced the travel ban as tantamount to hostage-taking and said his country would hit back by stopping North Koreans from leaving Malaysia.

“This abhorrent act, effectively holding our citizens hostage, is in total disregard of all international law and diplomatic norms,” he added.

Police briefly cordoned off access to the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

About 1,000 North Koreans live in Malaysia, while there are 11 Malaysians in North Korea, three working at the Malaysian Embassy, two United Nations workers and six family members.

Two women, one from Vietnam and one from Indonesia, have been charged with Mr Kim’s murder on February 13 which was caught on CCTV camera.

Both say they were duped into thinking they were playing a harmless prank, by putting a handkerchief over his face, and were unaware it was carrying the poison.

Police are hunting seven North Koreans suspected of being involved in the assassination plot.

Three of them, including an official at the North Korean Embassy, are believed to still be in Malaysia.

As tensions escalated, America today started to deploy the first elements of its advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile defence system in South Korea after its northern neighbour’s latest test of four ballistic missiles.

China has warned that the THAAD deployment will destroy the regional security balance and stressed that it would take measures which would have consequenes for the US and South Korea.

US Pacific Command made the THAAD announcement after North Korean state media said Kim Jong-un personally supervised yesterday’s missile launches by an army unit positioned to strike American bases in Japan.

The Scud-type missiles landed in the sea off Japan’s northwest, angering Seoul and Tokyo, days after Pyongyang promised retaliation over joint US/South Korean military drills.

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