Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said that his country will reopen its embassy in Pyongyang, a move expected to end the diplomatic row over the assassination of a citizen of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Kuala Lumpur last year.
The Embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia (Photo: VNA)
Mahathir unveiled the information in an interview with the Nikkei
Asian Review published on June 11 during his trip to Japan.
Malaysia's once-close ties with the DPRK were severely downgraded after a man
whose name in his passport is Kim Chol was killed at the Kuala Lumpur airport
in February 2017. Kim Chol was believed to be Kim Jong-nam, a half-brother of
the DPRK’s leader Kim Jong-un.
Malaysia's embassy in Pyongyang has not been staffed since April last year, and
the government had considered permanently closing it and moving services to its
Beijing mission.
The move came just a day before the historic summit between the DPRK’s leader
Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump in Singapore.
Following their talks, Trump and Kim issued a joint statement in which the US
President promised to ensure security for the DPRK while the DPRK leader
re-affirmed the commitment to absolute denuclearization on the Korean
peninsula.-
Source: VNA
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