MOSCOW (Sputnik) — He added that the citizens of North Korea would not be deported if their visas were valid.
"This decision to deport the North Koreans was made in line with rules that have been set… [the North Koreans] are now being held at a temporary detention depot in Sarawak. After the documentation [process] is complete, we will begin the deportation," Hamidi said, as quoted by the Malaysian Digest news outlet.
The issue of Malaysia's deportation of North Koreans from its territory has become actual in recent weeks amid a diplomatic row between the two states. The crisis in bilateral ties between Kuala Lumpur and Pyongyang broke out after the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Amid the dispute the two states have already declared each other's ambassadors persona non grata.
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