Malaysia cancels N Korea visa-free deal after Kim murder

Kuala Lumpur has cancelled a visa-free travel deal with Pyongyang as a diplomatic spat deepens over the assassination of the half-brother of North Korea's leader, national news agency Bernama reported yesterday. The government implemented the change on the grounds of national security, the Malaysian news agency quoted the country's deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as saying.

The cancellation will take effect on March 6, after which North Koreans entering Malaysia will be required to obtain a visa, the report added.

The poisoning has unleashed a serious diplomatic battle between Malaysia and North Korea. While it isn't one of Pyongyang's key diplomatic partners, Malaysia has been one of the few places in the world where North Koreans could travel without a visa. As a result, for years, it's been a quiet destination for Northerners looking for jobs, schools and business deals.

Before the murder of Kim Jong-Nam at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13, the two countries enjoyed relatively warm ties, with some bilateral trade and citizens of both nations entitled to travel to the other under a unique reciprocal visa-free deal.

The cancellation comes after members of the powerful ruling party, the United Malays National Organization, held a protest outside the North Korean embassy last week and demanded Malaysia end the free visa ruling.

Two female suspects in the attack, Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 28, from Vietnam, were charged with murder on Wednesday. Malaysia has arrested one North Korean and named several others as suspects.

Seoul says the government of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un ordered the killing of Kim Jong-Nam, who died after his face was rubbed with a powerful nerve agent, and engaged two outsiders to carry it out.

The spectacular killing sparked an international probe and lurid stories of Pyongyang's Cold War-style tradecraft.

North Korea, which has not acknowledged the dead man's identity, has vehemently protested the investigation, saying Malaysia is in cahoots with its enemies.

Malaysia had already recalled its envoy to Pyongyang and also summoned the North Korean ambassador to Kuala Lumpur.

Kim Jong Nam was estranged from his half brother, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He reportedly fell out of favor with their father, the late Kim Jong Il, in 2001, when he was caught trying to enter Japan on a false passport to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

Isolated North Korea has a long history of ordering killings of people it views as threats to its regime. Kim Jong Nam was not known to be seeking political power, but his position as eldest son of the family that has ruled North Korea since it was founded could have made him appear to be a danger.