Defending the move, and calling it unprecedented, Dennis Ignatius said it was necessary for the North Korean envoy to realise the full measure of Malaysia’s unhappiness following the murder of Kim Jong Nam on Malaysian soil.
“The government tried very hard to keep the assassination investigation from spilling over into the rest of the bilateral relationship but repeated North Korean assaults on the integrity of the investigation, as well as unfounded accusations that the government had conspired with other countries against North Korea, has finally compelled the government to take a tougher line.
“The accusations against the police, made in Beijing, by the North Korean national who was deported on Friday was, I think, the last straw,” Ignatius told FMT today.
He was referring to Ri Jong Chol, who told media in Beijing yesterday, that there was a conspiracy by Malaysia to damage the honour of North Korea.
Ignatius added that if there was any plot against Pyongyang or the former suspect, surely the police here would not have let him go.
“Releasing someone for ‘lack of evidence’ is one indicator of the transparency of the whole process, I would have thought,” said Ignatius, who last served as Malaysian high commissioner to Canada from 2001 to 2008.
Yesterday, Wisma Putra announced that ambassador Kang Chol was expelled after he failed to respond to a summon to meet with a senior foreign ministry official within a stipulated time.
“The ministry has, via a Diplomatic Note sent to the embassy this evening, informed the North Korean government that the Malaysian government has declared His Excellency Mr Kang Chol persona non grata,” the ministry said in a statement released last night.
Ignatius, who is a 36-year veteran with the foreign service, also called the relationship between Malaysia and North Korea a “one-way street”.
“There is no benefit to Malaysia in this relationship so there is no cost to us if North Korea chooses to jeopardise the relationship,” Ignatius said, warning that the current conflict could lead to a complete rupture in relations between the two countries.
The relationship between both countries went downhill following the killing of Kim Jong Nam, who is the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, on Feb 13.
Jong Nam had arrived in Malaysia on Feb 6, and was at klia2 to catch a 10.30am flight to Macau on Feb 13 when he was attacked by two women, who wiped his face with a chemical poison, which was later found to be a VX nerve agent.
Aside from the two women, both of whom were charged last week over the murder, there are four other male suspects, all North Korean, who fled the country on the same day of the murder.
Two other North Korean suspects, Hyon Kwang Song, who is the second secretary with the embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Air Koryo employee Kim Uk Il are also wanted by police to help in the investigations.