Media zooms in on arrival of Kang Chol at KLIA

SEPANG: Pressmen were out in full force at the KL International Airport awaiting the departure of North Korea’s Ambassador to Malaysia, Kang Chol, who has been declared persona non grata by the government.

He arrived in his official car which was escorted by four police patrol cars at 4.40pm and was immediately swarmed by pressmen to get his comments on his expulsion from Malaysia.

Earlier, a Multi-Purpose Vehicle bearing diplomatic license plates bringing baggage and boxes labelled ‘DPRK Pyongyang’ also drew the attention of the media when it arrived at the departures level of KLIA.

Embassy staff were also seen registering Kang Chol and his family members at a counter for a flight to Beijing (Malaysia Airlines MH360) which is scheduled to take off at 6.25pm.

Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman on Saturday had announced that the Malaysian Government had declared Kang Chol as persona non grata and gave him 48 hours from 6pm on March 4 to leave the country.

A horde of reporters, photographers and camera crews had camped outside KLIA since early morning yesterday following the expulsion order.

After the announcement was made, Kang Chol was no longer seen entering or leaving the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

The order came about in the aftermath of the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) on Feb 13.

It was due to the ambassador making disparaging remarks about Malaysia following the incident (murder of Jong-nam).

It was reported that Jong-nam was waiting for his flight to Macau at klia2 on Feb 13 when two women suddenly wiped his face with a liquid which was later identified as a VX nerve agent.

Jong-nam reportedly sought help at a customer service counter at the airport and was rushed to Putrajaya Hospital but died on the way. He had used a passport bearing the name Kim Chol.

Kang Chol, in his translated comments, said that he was leaving the country as the Malaysian government had declared him persona non grata.

He also expressed grave concern over the ‘extreme measures’ taken by the Malaysian government, saying it did great harm to the bilateral relations which had a history of 40 years.

It was a chaotic scene with media members trying to get close to Kang Chol as he was brought to the VIP Room at KLIA. – Bernama