NKorea Cuts Ties with Malaysia over US Extradition

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. AFP file photo
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. AFP file photo
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NKorea Cuts Ties with Malaysia over US Extradition

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. AFP file photo
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. AFP file photo

North Korea severed diplomatic ties with Malaysia on Friday, abruptly shutting down a once-close relationship that took a major downturn following the shock assassination of Kim Jong Un's estranged half-brother in Kuala Lumpur airport four years ago.

Pyongyang's foreign ministry said it was responding to Malaysia's extradition of a North Korean citizen to the United States earlier this month -- a move it labelled an "unpardonable crime" carried out under "blind obedience" to US pressure.

Malaysia had been one of the nuclear-armed country's few allies until the North Korean leader's relative, Kim Jong Nam, was murdered with a banned nerve agent as he waited to catch a flight from Kuala Lumpur.

Ties plunged after the Cold War-style hit but had started to get back on track with Malaysia announcing the re-opening of its Pyongyang embassy -- but Friday's surprise move put a swift end to that, AFP reported.

North Korea's foreign ministry announced the "total severance of the diplomatic relations with Malaysia", according to state news agency KCNA, saying the citizen being extradited had been involved in "legitimate" trading activities in Singapore.

The move came after a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin to South Korea, the second leg of an Asian tour to bolster a united front against the nuclear-armed North and an increasingly assertive China.

On Thursday, the North accused the new US administration of adopting "lunatic theory", ruling out any engagement with Washington unless it changed course.

On March 9 a North Korean man named Mun Chol Myong lost his final appeal in Malaysia's top court against extradition to the US to face money laundering charges.

He had denied claims of leading a criminal group that violated sanctions by supplying prohibited items to the North and laundered funds through front companies, according to his lawyers.

Mun, in his 50s, faces four charges of money laundering and two of conspiracy to launder money. The allegations relate mainly to his work in Singapore.

There have been cases of businesses in Singapore sending luxury items, such as liquor and watches, to North Korea, which is banned under sanctions imposed on Pyongyang over its weapons programs.

Before the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, Malaysia and the North enjoyed particularly warm relations.

But afterwards, a reciprocal visa-free travel arrangement for visitors was axed while North Koreans who had been working in coal mines in Sarawak state on Borneo island were sent home.

Two young women, from Indonesia and Vietnam, who had smeared the nerve agent VX on Kim's face were arrested and put on trial but murder charges against them were dropped in 2019.

Their lawyers argued the real assassins were a group of North Koreans who had recruited and trained them but fled Malaysia soon after the murder.

North Korea operated embassies in about 25 countries as of December last year, including Cuba, Iran, Germany, and its key ally China, according to Seoul.

Illicit activities are known to be rampant in North Korea's foreign missions, and Pyongyang has long been accused of using them for intelligence gathering, sanctions-busting and money laundering.



Dozens Dead in Vietnam after Ha Long Bay Tourist Ferry Sinks

A handout photo made available by the Vietnam News Agency shows a tourist boat being salvaged in Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh province, Vietnam, 20 July 2025. EPA/VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY
A handout photo made available by the Vietnam News Agency shows a tourist boat being salvaged in Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh province, Vietnam, 20 July 2025. EPA/VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY
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Dozens Dead in Vietnam after Ha Long Bay Tourist Ferry Sinks

A handout photo made available by the Vietnam News Agency shows a tourist boat being salvaged in Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh province, Vietnam, 20 July 2025. EPA/VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY
A handout photo made available by the Vietnam News Agency shows a tourist boat being salvaged in Ha Long Bay, Quang Ninh province, Vietnam, 20 July 2025. EPA/VIETNAM NEWS AGENCY

Rescuers searched desperately Sunday for five people still missing after at least 38 were killed when a boat capsized at one of Vietnam's most popular tourist destinations.

The tourist boat ferrying families around Vietnam's famed Ha Long Bay was lashed by a sudden storm Saturday in one of the deadliest disasters at the UNESCO World Heritage site.

The vessel "Wonder Sea" was carrying 48 passengers and five crew when it capsized because of sudden heavy rain, the VNExpress news site said.

Tran Trong Hung, a resident in the Ha Long Bay area, told AFP: "The sky turned dark."

There were "hailstones as big as toes with torrential rain, thunderstorms and lightning", he said.

Most of those on board were families visiting from the capital, Hanoi, with more than 20 children among the passengers, it said.

Border guards had rescued 11 people and recovered 34 bodies by Saturday evening, it added.

Overnight, the bodies of three crew members were found in the cabin, and rescue efforts continued into Sunday morning to find the five people still missing.

One of the rescued died in hospital on Sunday, bringing the toll to 38, VNExpress said.

One of the rescued, a 10-year-old boy, told state media outlet VietnamNet: "I took a deep breath, swam through a gap, dived then swam up, I even shouted for help, then I was pulled up by a boat with soldiers on".

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent his condolences on Saturday to relatives of those killed and called on the defence and public security ministries to conduct urgent search and rescue.

Authorities would "investigate and clarify the cause of the incident and strictly handle violations", a government statement said.

Torrential rain also lashed northern Hanoi, Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh provinces on Saturday.

Several trees were knocked down in the capital by strong winds.

The storm followed three days of intense heat, with the mercury hitting 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit) in some areas.

Mai Van Khiem, director of the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting, was quoted in VNExpress as saying that the thunderstorms in northern Vietnam were not caused by the influence of Tropical Storm Wipha in the South China Sea.

Wipha entered the South China Sea on Sunday gaining strength, and is on course to make landfall in Vietnam early next week.

Ha Long Bay is one of Vietnam's most popular tourist destinations, with millions of people visiting its blue-green waters and rainforest-topped limestone islands each year.

Last year, 30 vessels sank at boat lock areas in coastal Quang Ninh province along Ha Long Bay after Typhoon Yagi brought strong wind and waves.

And this month, a ferry sank off the popular Indonesian resort island of Bali, killing at least 18 people.