According to The Star which quoted Chinese media reports, “emergency procedures” were activated soon after the announcement, with workers seen burning documents and loading luggage into vehicles.
Pyongyang said yesterday that Mohamad Nizan must leave the country within 48 hours. However, the envoy had already left North Korea and returned to Malaysia on Feb 22.
Following a further announcement today that all Malaysian citizens have been banned from leaving the communist state, China’s CCTV 13 reported that the Malaysian and Asean flags in the embassy compound were lowered to half-mast, and that three vehicles had left the premises.
There are currently 11 Malaysians in North Korea, nine of whom are embassy staff and two who are part of the United Nations Food Programme.
Last Saturday, Malaysia declared former North Korean ambassador Kang Chol persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 48 hours. He had been holed up in the embassy in Kuala Lumpur since then but left yesterday, just two hours before the deadline expired.
Kang Chol later issued a statement at the KLIA denouncing the actions of the Malaysian government following the killing of Kim Jong Nam, who is the half-brother to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
Ties between the two governments have been strained after Pyongyang protested an autopsy carried out on Kim Jong Nam, who was believed to have been murdered on Feb 13 at low-cost carrier terminal klia2.
North Korea has not acknowledged the dead man’s identity but has repeatedly criticised the murder investigation and autopsy, accusing Malaysia of conniving with “hostile forces”.
Kang Chol was previously summoned by Wisma Putra for a dressing-down, with Prime Minister Najib Razak saying the ambassador had been “diplomatically rude”.
Last week, Malaysia had also cancelled the visa-free travel facility for North Korean citizens amid the worsening ties.