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Malaysia imposes unprecedented ban on travel to North Korea

SINGAPORE — Malaysia has taken the unprecedented step of indefinitely banning all its citizens from travelling to North Korea, citing rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula and Pyongyang’s recent missile tests.

Malaysia has taken the unprecedented step of indefinitely banning all its citizens from travelling to North Korea, citing rising tension on the Korean Peninsula and Pyongyang's recent missile tests. AP file photo

Malaysia has taken the unprecedented step of indefinitely banning all its citizens from travelling to North Korea, citing rising tension on the Korean Peninsula and Pyongyang's recent missile tests. AP file photo

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SINGAPORE — Malaysia has taken the unprecedented step of indefinitely banning all its citizens from travelling to North Korea, citing rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula and Pyongyang’s recent missile tests.

The Malaysian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release on Thursday (Sept 28): “All Malaysians are banned from travelling to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) until further notice.

“The decision is taken in view of the escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula and related developments arising from the missile tests. The travel ban will be reviewed once the situation has returned to normal.”

The ban also covers the Malaysian football team’s trip to Pyongyang for an Oct 5 match, deputy foreign minister Rizal Merican Naina Merican said.

“The travel ban covers all Malaysians, and as Malaysians, the Malaysian national football team is included too,” the minister told Reuters.

The news led to the match being postponed for the third time, with the Asian Football Confederation saying in a brief statement that the situation would be “referred to the appropriate committees to decide on the future status of this match”. The match had been postponed to June 8 from its original date of March 28, but both dates were scrapped because of Malaysia’s fears for its players’ safety.

The travel ban comes amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula in recent weeks, as Mr Kim Jong-un and American President Donald Trump traded threats and insults over North Korea’s nuclear and missile development programme.

Malaysia is one of the handful of countries that still has diplomatic ties with North Korea. The South-East Asian nation used to be one of the few countries North Koreans could visit without a visa.

But bilateral ties have been strained since February this year, when Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was assassinated at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Two women allegedly rubbed a toxic nerve agent on his face. Kim Jong-nam died within 20 minutes.

The incident and the ensuing investigation by Malaysian police triggered a diplomatic row between the two countries, which expelled each other’s ambassadors and barred their citizens from leaving. Putrajaya has since cancelled the visa waiver programme for North Koreans.

The feud ended in late March when Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced a deal for the two countries to lift their respective travel bans, and for Kim Jong-nam’s body to be sent back to North Korea.

Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) had earlier advised Singaporeans against all non-essential travel to North Korea.

In a travel advisory on Sept 6, MFA said: “Given recent developments and the unpredictable situation arising from the actions of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Singaporeans should avoid all non-essential travel to North Korea.

“Singapore has no diplomatic representation in North Korea, which constrains our ability to extend consular assistance to Singaporeans who travel there.” AGENCIES

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