KUALA LUMPUR – All police commissioners, chiefs and department directors have been ordered to monitor current developments relating to the Malaysia-North Korea rift following a statement issued by North Korean embassy counsellor Kim Yu-song.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador said police are taking precautionary measures to avoid the possibility of any untoward incident happening in the country.
“The police force always adopts a cautious approach because many (security-related) incidents are associated with North Korea.
“The move to double and increase observation and surveillance at sensitive locations will continue until we feel comfortable that there is no such risk.”
Hamid said he hopes the rift will be settled properly, adding that if the North Korean government is dissatisfied, it can act according to international protocol.
“The rift occurred not because we want to antagonise North Korea as they were the ones who decided to cut diplomatic ties with Malaysia out of anger when one of their citizens was extradited to the United States.”
Last Friday, North Korea announced that it has ended diplomatic relations with Malaysia over the extradition of a North Korean citizen to the US to face money laundering charges.
On the same day, Wisma Putra in a statement said it regretted Pyongyang’s decision, and, as a response, Putrajaya will close its main embassy there after having suspended operations in 2017.
The government also instructed all North Korean diplomatic staff members and their families in Kuala Lumpur to leave within 48 hours on the same day.
Malaysia and North Korea forged diplomatic relations in 1973 and built further diplomatic and trade achievements until 2017, when Kim Jong-nam, the estranged brother of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, was assassinated in Malaysia. – Bernama, March 23, 2021
