KUALA LUMPUR, 20 March, 2021 (TON): In response to Pyongyang’s announcement to sever ties with Malaysia, Malaysia said on Friday, it will expel all North Korean diplomatic staff in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia’s foreign ministry said in a statement, “The government will issue an order for all the diplomatic staff and their dependents at the North Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to leave Malaysia within 48 hours from today, March 19, 2021.”

It added, in response to “North Korea’s accusation that the extradition of its national to the US was a nefarious act and unpardonably heavy crime and in defiance of the acknowledged international law, Malaysia said it was conducted in accordance with the principles of justice, rule of law and independence of judiciary.”

“The extradition was carried out only after the due legal process had been exhausted,” the ministry said.

“The rights of Mun Chol Myong while in custody in Malaysia were also guaranteed and fulfilled, including his access to his own defense counsel, as well as to consular assistance and visits by his family,” it further added.

In 2019, the North Korean businessman was arrested on charges of money laundering and violating UN sanctions imposed on Pyongyang. Malaysian authorities said he was deported on Wednesday.

While the Malaysian foreign ministry said it “deeply regrets” North Korea’s decision to sever diplomatic ties, it denounced the move as “unfriendly and unconstructive.”

Malaysia was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic ties with North Korea in the early 1970s. Relations soured after Kim Jong Nam, the estranged brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was killed at a Kuala Lumpur airport in 2017 with a nerve agent.