Malaysia to require visa for North Korean visitors

By P Prem Kumar

KUALA LUMPUR (AA) - Malaysia has revoked visa-free status for visitors from North Korea amid a recent diplomatic row following the death of the half-brother of the reclusive state’s leader in Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told a press conference Thursday that tourists and diplomatic visitors from North Korea will need visas to enter Malaysia from March 6.

He insisted on the move’s necessity in ensuring Malaysia's security after several North Korean citizens have been identified in an alleged plot to kill Kim Jong-nam, who died at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport last month.

"We will gazette this [as a law] and visas for North Korean visitors are a must starting Monday," he said.

Malaysia and North Korea had maintained a relatively low-key diplomatic relationship since the 1970s, with both nations enjoying a free visa travel policy.

Currently, Malaysian passport holders are the only visitors who can travel to North Korea without a visa, and vice versa.

Diplomatic ties between the two countries have soured since the Feb. 13 alleged poisoning of Kim -- after which Pyongyang criticized Malaysia's handling of the investigation and continues to demand that the body be handed over.

Malaysia, however, remains firm that the body can only be returned to Kim’s next-of-kin after all necessary identification tests are completed.