IT was a classic Cold War-era swap. Two North Koreans holed up in their Kuala Lumpur embassy for the past six weeks were free to go yesterday with the body of assassinated Kim Jong-Nam for the freedom of nine Malaysians in Pyongyang.

Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali confirmed the deal, telling The Malaysian Insight last night “it was to secure the safe release of nine Malaysians back home and we have achieved that”.

The two diplomats were wanted by police for questioning in their investigations into Kim’s murder on February 13. The duo, however, had stayed inside the embassy in the upmarket Damansara suburb, citing diplomatic immunity.

Apandi said yesterday the two were not suspects in Kim’s murder but were needed to “assist in the investigations”.

“The main suspects, four of them, left the country long time ago,” he said, referring to the four North Korean agents who flew into Malaysia separately beginning late January but left on the same day, February 13, hours after Jong-Nam was murdered at Malaysia’s low-cost carrier airport, klia2.

“The four, who are still wanted, were captured on CCTV at the terminal, monitoring the execution of Jong-Nam by the two ladies.”

Apandi said the release of the North Korean duo would not jeopardise further police investigations or have an adverse effect on the trial of two foreign women charged with Kim’s murder.

“These two are diplomats, they have diplomatic immunity, so basically you cannot touch them unless North Korea is willing to waive their immunity.”

The North Korean diplomats and the body of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, were whisked to the Kuala Lumpur International Airport yesterday afternoon on a flight to Beijing. The body would likely leave for Pyongyang tomorrow.

“But we have recorded statements from two other North Koreans who are not diplomats. Police have finished with them.”

As for the trial of the two women – Indonesian Siti Aisyah, 25, and Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, 29 –Apandi said the case against them would be based strictly on what was captured by CCTV at the airport terminal.

“Motive need not necessarily be proven. You did the act and that act caused the death, that is enough.”

They were seen daubing the face of Jong-Nam with a piece of cloth, which later was revealed as containing the nerve agent VX. Jong-Nam was scheduled to take a flight to Macau when he was attacked.

Jong-Nam’s murder caused a diplomatic row between Putrajaya and Pyongyang after North Korea’s then ambassador to Malaysia, Kang Chol, accused Malaysia of attempting to smear the regime. It had insisted that Jong-Nam died of a heart attack and the body should be handed over to Pyongyang.

Malaysia declared Kang Chol persona non grata while Pyongyang retaliated by expelling Malaysia’s ambassador to North Korea.

Pyongyang took the issue further when it barred nine Malaysians, including three diplomats, in North Korea from leaving the country and Putrajaya responded with the same action in a tit-for-tat move, until the matter was resolved yesterday.

Prime Minister Najib Razak in a statement last night announced that the diplomatic crisis was over after North Korea allowed the nine Malaysians to leave the country.

Najib had also said that following this development, Malaysia would now allow North Korean citizens in the country to leave.

Attorney-General Apandi, however, said this situation could have been avoided if Putrajaya had ordered all its embassy staff in Pyongyang to return to Malaysia along with its ambassador, Mohamad Nizan Mohamad, who came back earlier on February 22.

“We should have brought back everyone before we started declaring anyone persona non grata. Had we acted sooner or decisively, we wouldn’t have to go through all this, knowing the unpredictability of this situation,” Apandi said.

“Anyway, this is a lesson learnt, we will be wiser in future encounters.”

The nine Malaysians arrived at the KLIA at 5am today and were welcomed by their families and Wisma Putra officials. – March 31, 2017.