North Korean held over Kim death to be freed

The only North Korean arrested over the dramatic airport assassination of Kim Jong-Nam is to be deported, Malaysia said yesterday, as it announced the abrupt cancellation of a visa-waiver programme with Pyongyang.

The moves came the day after two young women appeared in court charged with murdering the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un with a banned nerve agent.

Attorney general Mohamed Apandi Ali said 47-year-old Ri Jong-Chol would be released and deported today.

"He is a free man. His remand expires and there is insufficient evidence to charge him," Apandi said. "He has no proper [travel] documents so we will deport him."

Seven other North Koreans are wanted in connection with the killing, including a diplomat and an airline employee who are believed to be in Malaysia.

Four others are thought to have fled to Pyongyang on the day of the murder.

Ri was arrested days after Kim suffered an agonising death when he was attacked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport as he waited to board a flight to Macau.

CCTV footage shows two women approaching the heavyset 45-year-old and appearing to thrust a cloth in his face.

Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur has cancelled a visa-free travel deal with Pyongyang as a diplomatic spat deepens over the assassination of the half-brother of North Korea's leader, Bernama reported yesterday.

The government implemented the change on the grounds of national security, the Malaysian news agency quoted the country's deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as saying.

The cancellation will take effect on March 6, after which North Koreans entering Malaysia will be required to obtain a visa, the report added.