N Korea, Malaysia Takes Each Other Hostages

NYT - North Korea said on Tuesday that it was barring all Malaysians from leaving the country until there is a “fair settlement” of a dispute over the assassination in Kuala Lumpur of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korea’s leader.

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NYT -  North Korea said on Tuesday that it was barring all Malaysians from leaving the country until there is a "fair settlement” of a dispute over the assassination in Kuala Lumpur of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korea’s leader.

Malaysia responded in kind, with Prime Minister Najib Razak instructing the police to prevent all North Koreans from leaving Malaysia until he was assured of the safety of Malaysians in North Korea. The developments were a dramatic escalation in the diplomatic dispute over Mr. Kim’s killing, in which the Malaysian police have said that several North Koreans are suspects.

"This abhorrent act, effectively holding our citizens hostage, is in total disregard of all international law and diplomatic norms,” Mr. Najib said of North Korea’s action.

Mr. Najib said he had called an emergency meeting of Malaysia’s National Security Council.

It was unclear what resolution to the Kim case North Korea was seeking. But it has rejected the findings of the Malaysian police that Mr. Kim was poisoned by VX nerve agent at the Malaysian capital’s international airport on Feb. 13, and it has demanded that his body be handed over to the North Korean Embassy. The Malaysian police want to question several North Koreans in the case, including a diplomat.

In its statement Tuesday, North Korea said it would "temporarily ban the exit of Malaysian citizens” until the safety of North Korean diplomats and citizens in Malaysia is "fully guaranteed through the fair settlement of the case that occurred in Malaysia,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.

Malaysian officials said there were 11 Malaysians in North Korea: embassy staff, their family members and two United Nations workers.

Malaysia has long had a reputation for getting along with other nations and allowing travelers easy access, and such a diplomatic dispute is highly unusual. About 1,000 North Koreans are believed to live and work in Malaysia; until Monday, they had been allowed to enter the country without a visa.

"As a peace-loving nation, Malaysia is committed to maintaining friendly relations with all countries,” Mr. Najib said Tuesday. "However, protecting our citizens is my first priority, and we will not hesitate to take all measures necessary when they are threatened.”

Mr. Kim, the elder half brother of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, was killed when two women rubbed poison on his face at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the Malaysian police said. The women, one from Vietnam and one from Indonesia, have been arrested and charged with murder.

The Malaysian police, which conducted an autopsy of Mr. Kim’s body over North Korea’s objections, concluded that he had been poisoned by VX nerve agent, a banned chemical weapon known to be in North Korea’s arsenal. North Korea has suggested that he died of heart failure and accused Malaysia of working with other countries to defame Pyongyang.

"Once it denied responsibility for the assassination, North Korea had no option but to push back in a tit-for-tat escalation,” Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Dongguk University in Seoul, said Tuesday. "Offense is the best defense for the North.”

The police are seeking seven North Korean men in connection with Mr. Kim’s killing, including four who are believed to have returned to North Korea. Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysia’s top police official, confirmed on Tuesday at a news conference that at least two suspects had taken refuge at the North Korean Embassy, where they cannot be arrested by the Malaysian police under international rules of diplomacy. He said it was "a matter of time before they come out.”

North Korea has not acknowledged that the man killed at the airport was indeed Kim Jong-nam.

Tuesday’s developments follow the tit-for-tat expulsion of ambassadors between the two countries. Kang Chol, North Korea’s ambassador to Malaysia, was expelled on Monday over what Malaysia considered to be insulting comments. North Korea responded by formally expelling Malaysia’s ambassador, Mohamad Nizan Mohamad, though he had already been recalled to Malaysia for consultations.