Malaysia planning to shut embassy in North Korea in latest sign of frayed relations

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The Malaysian embassy in Pyongyang, North Korea. Photo: handout

Published: 5:54pm, 14 Oct 2017Updated: 10:44pm, 14 Oct 2017

Malaysia plans to “close down” its embassy in Pyongyang, a Foreign Ministry source said on Friday, confirming reports that the ministry has recommended to the cabinet that the country’s embassy in China also be accredited to North Korea.

“Wisma Putra (the Foreign Ministry) will be putting up the recommendation for the cabinet to decide. We will have to wait until the cabinet has made a decision,” an aide to foreign minister Anifah Aman told Kyodo News on condition of anonymity.

The aide was confirming local media reports in which Anifah was quoted as saying his ministry “will file recommendation papers for the Malaysian embassy in Beijing to be accredited to North Korea.”

Anifah did not rule out breaking off diplomatic relations in the more distant future, saying, “We may or may not sever ties with North Korea.”

Anifah Aman addressing the United Nations General Assembly. Photo: AP

Diplomatic ties were established in 1973 and Malaysia opened its embassy in Pyongyang in February 2004. In May 2006, the embassy was moved from a temporary office at the Koryo Hotel to a permanent building in the capital’s Munsudong diplomatic quarter.

The two countries had for many years enjoyed warm ties, with visa-free travel between them, until the audacious assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13, 2017.