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. “This action is a reminder that Malaysia shall never tolerate any attempt to meddle in our internal affairs and judiciary, disrespect our governance system and constantly create unnecessary tensions in defiance of the rules-based international order,” he said in a statement.

Ties between North Korea and Malaysia have been virtually frozen since the 2017 assassination of a North Korean man at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Two days after Kuala Lumpur extradited a North Korean man to the U.S. to face money laundering charges, a furious North Korea on Friday announced it was terminating ties with Malaysia. Malaysia denounced the decision and in a tit-for-tat response, gave North Korean diplomats 48 hours to leave, according to Washington Post.

A bus carrying staff of the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur leaves the embassy compound on Sunday, Mar 21, 2021. (Photo: AP)

Malaysian officials never officially accused North Korea of involvement in Kim Jong Nam’s death, but prosecutors made it clear throughout the trial that they suspected a North Korean connection, said Channel News Asia.

North Korea denied the victim was Kim Jong Nam and disputed it had any role in the man’s death. Longtime North Korea watchers believe Kim Jong Un ordered his brother’s killing as part of efforts to remove potential rivals and cement his grip on power.

North Korea’s ‘sun-rising’ building blocking views of China completed The odd high-rise building that looks like a reddish disk stands near the river that defines the national border between North Korea and China has ...

Rumors fly again that North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un is comatose North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has fallen into a coma, a former South Korean official is claiming on the heels of reports that the ...

North Korean leader orders pet dogs to be confiscated in the capital amid food shortage Kim Jong Un issued the directive in July to round up the pets, claiming they were part of “a ‘tainted’ trend by bourgeois ideology" and ...