North Korea bars Malaysians from leaving as murder row boils

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un salutes during a mass military parade in the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang to celebrate 100 years since the birth of the late North Korean founder Kim Il Sung on Sunday, April 15, 2012. North Korea's new leader Kim Jong Un gave his first public speech Sunday since taking power, portraying himself as a strong military chief unafraid of foreign powers as the army showed off what appeared to be a new long-range missile. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

KUALA LUMPUR/SEOUL  – North Korea barred Malaysians from leaving the country on Tuesday, sparking tit-for-tat action by Malaysia, as police investigating the murder of Kim Jong Nam in Kuala Lumpur sought to question up to three men hiding in the North Korean embassy.

Malaysia was outraged by the murder of the North Korean leader’s estranged half brother at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13 by assassins using VX nerve agent, a chemical listed by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction.

Police have identified eight North Koreans wanted in connection with the murder, including a senior North Korean diplomat and a state airline employee – two of the three believed to be hiding in the embassy. The only people charged so far are a Vietnamese woman and an Indonesian woman.

As the row escalated on Tuesday, North Korea’s foreign ministry issued a temporary ban on Malaysians leaving in order to ensure the safety of its own diplomats and citizens in Malaysia.

“All Malaysian citizens in the DPRK will be temporarily prohibited from leaving the country until the incident that happened in Malaysia is properly solved,” the state-run Korea Central News Agency said, quoting a foreign ministry official.

“In this period the diplomats and citizens of Malaysia may work and live normally under the same conditions and circumstances as before.”

HOSTAGE-TAKING   Continued…

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