Malaysia – mindful of the killing of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother on its soil four years ago – has raised security measures at sensitive locations.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the expulsion was in response to Pyongyang’s ‘unilateral and utterly irresponsible decision’ on Friday to sever diplomatic ties.

The action was called ‘puzzling’, and one that could ‘seriously damage efforts to improve ties between the US and the North’.

Malaysia orders all North Korean diplomatic staff to exit country within 48 hours after Pyongyang severs ties over US extradition of its citizen.

Relations between the two countries unravelled following the assassination of the North Korean leader’s half-brother in Kuala Lumpur in 2016.

Siti Aisyah recalls how an innocent prank went horribly wrong, ending in murder and and landing her in jail.

In The Great Successor, Anna Fifield digs deep into the dictator’s early life, speaking with former classmates and others who knew the reclusive leader when he struggled with foreign languages and social interaction.

Trump on Tuesday said he had received a very warm letter from Kim, calling the correspondence ‘beautiful’.

US president tells reporters ‘I think that something will happen that’s going to be very positive’.

South Korean agencies said they could not confirm the report. The CIA declined to comment.

Indonesian Siti Aisyah – the only other person accused of the 2017 killing using a banned nerve agent – had already been freed.

North Koreans are taught from birth to revere the Kim family and the ceremonies surrounding such occasions are one of the ways in which authorities reinforce loyalty

Doan Thi Huong, charged with murder more than two years ago, pleaded guilty on April 1 to a lesser charge of ‘causing hurt’, punishable by up to 10 years in prison

Doan Thi Huong and Siti Aisyah maintain that they were tricked into smearing nerve agent on the face of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother. Now that both will soon be free from custody, will Pyongyang attempt to silence them for good?

Doan Thi Huong has been on trial since 2017 for the murder of Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur airport with a toxic nerve agent.

Masked assailants infiltrated compound in Madrid, Spain, tied staff up with rope, stole computers and phones, and fled in two luxury vehicles.

Vietnamese national Doan Thi Huong, who is accused of killing Kim Jong-nam, will continue trial on April 1 after prosecutors declined a request to free her.

Siti Aisyah, who fainted during her excited homecoming, had previously been accused of assassinating Kim Jong-un’s half brother by smearing poison on his face. But neighbours said Aisyah was a victim, and young village women like her were vulnerable to deception when they moved abroad.

The woman’s co-defendant, Indonesian national Siti Aisyah, was released on Monday following extensive lobbying from her country’s government.

Indonesia’s government said its continual high-level lobbying resulted in Siti Aisyah’s release.

The group emerged in 2017 when it said it had guaranteed the safety of Kim Han-sol, the son of Kim Jong-nam, who was murdered.

Kim Jong-un is heading to Vietnam for a second date with the US president. Opinion is split over whether the millennial dictator’s charm offensive is a genuine quest for legitimacy or a rebranding of his old playbook

The brazen assassination in February 2017 shocked the world, but the women have denied murder, saying they believed they were taking part in a prank

Siti Aisyah and her Vietnamese co-defendant Doan Thi Huong are accused of smearing nerve agent on the fact of Kim Jong-un’s half-brother

The pair are being tried for killing Kim by applying the deadly VX nerve agent on his face, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13 last year, but their lawyers say it has been hard to get witnesses to take the stand.