The Malaysians, three embassy staff and six family members, landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport before sunrise where they were met on the tarmac by Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman.
KUALA LUMPUR: Nine Malaysians freed by Pyongyang arrived home early on Friday (Mar 31), after Kuala Lumpur agreed to send back the body of the assassinated half-brother of North Korea’s leader, ending a bitter feud between the two countries.
Kim Jong-Nam was killed with the lethal nerve agent VX on Feb 13 in a Kuala Lumpur airport, triggering a diplomatic row between Malaysia and North Korea, which expelled each other’s ambassadors and barred their citizens from leaving.
But a deal announced by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and confirmed by North Korean state media on Thursday said the two countries had lifted their respective travel bans, and Kuala Lumpur would send the body to North Korea.
The Malaysians, three embassy staff and six family members, landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport before sunrise where they were met on the tarmac by Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman.
On Thursday, following the deal, Najib declared on Twitter: the “diplomatic crisis is over”.
“Following the completion of the autopsy on the deceased and receipt of a letter from his family requesting the remains be returned to North Korea, the coroner has approved the release of the body,” Najib said in a statement.
The prime minister did not specify who in the family had made the request. Kim’s wife and children, who were living in exile in the Chinese territory of Macau, staged a vanishing act after the murder and are believed to be in hiding.
