Kang Chol, who until Saturday was recognised as the North Korean ambassador to Malaysia, left the building at approximately 3.58pm. He lost his status, after being declared “persona non grata” by Putrajaya.
As police outriders accompanied the embassy car once it had exited the compound, the media rushed forward to try and catch a glimpse of the occupants. The car horn was blaring all the time, presumably to get the throng to clear the way.
On Saturday, the foreign ministry issued a statement signed by minister Anifah Aman, which said Kang Chol was expelled after he failed to answer a summon to Wisma Putra to meet with Raja Nushirwan Zainal Abidin, the deputy secretary-general for bilateral affairs by 6pm the same day.
“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.
“He is expected to leave Malaysia within 48 hours from the scheduled time of the meeting, namely 6pm,” Anifah said at the time.
The summon followed a demand for apology from Kang Chol after discussions on March 1 between Wisma Putra and a high-level North Korean diplomatic team, which included its former envoy to the United Nations.
According to Anifah, Kang Chol was given until 10pm the same day to submit an official apology but as nothing was forthcoming even after almost four days, the next step was taken to summon him.
Kang Chol, 64, was appointed North Korean ambassador to Malaysia in 2014. It is his first full ambassadorial appointment.
Prior to his arrival in Malaysia, he was director-general of North Korea’s ministry of foreign affairs from 2010 to 2014. For 11 years before that, he headed the research section in the same ministry.
Kang Chol’s previous overseas duty was as a counsellor at the North Korean embassy in Ethiopia (1995-1999), first secretary at the embassy in Somalia (1985-1990) and as the attache at the embassy in Somalia (1977-1981).
Kang Chol, who was born on Jan 19, 1953, studied at the Pyongyang University of Foreign Language from 1972 to 1973 before proceeding to the Somalia National University in Mogadishu, where he was a student from 1973 to 1976.