Malaysia on Saturday expelled North Korean Ambassador Kang Chol and issued a notice asking him to leave the country within 48 hours.
The envoy was expelled after his continuous criticism of the local investigations into the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
According to Anadolu news agency, Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said Kang had been declared "persona non grata" in Malaysia, after the ambassador failed to turn up for a Saturday meeting with ministry officials to explain his recent statements which belittled Malaysia's efforts in probing the killing.
Aman said Kang's failure to attend the meeting followed a lack of written apology on behalf of North Korea as demanded by the Foreign Ministry previously.
"Pursuant to my instructions, he [Kang] was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to meet with the Deputy Secretary General for Bilateral Affairs of the ministry, today at 6.00 pm [1000GMT]. However, neither the ambassador nor senior officials of the embassy was in a position to be present at the ministry," said Aman.
"For this reason, the ministry has via a diplomatic note sent to the embassy this evening, informed the North Korean government that the Malaysian government has declared Kang as Persona Non Grata,"said Aman, adding that Kang was given time to leave the country within 48 hours from 6 p.m. local time.
Aman said Kang's explusion was part of the government's review of bilateral ties with North Korea, as instructed by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi last week.
Earlier, Kang had alleged that the conduct of the investigation into the death of Kim Jong-nam indicated that the Malaysian government had something to hide and that Malaysia had colluded with outside powers to defame his country.
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