Malaysia has decided to scrap its visa waiver agreement with North Korea amid escalating diplomatic disputes in the wake of the assassination of Kim Jong-nam.
 
Malaysia’s state-run Bernama news agency quoted Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as saying on Thursday that the agreement, signed back in 2009, will be canceled and effective from Monday.
 
At the time of the agreement’s adoption, Malaysia became the first country whose nationals could travel to North Korea visa-free.
 
The latest move comes after the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was assassinated at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on January 13th. 
 
The cancellation of the visa deal is expected to deal a significant blow to the North’s efforts to earn foreign currency. Currently, around one-thousand North Koreans work in Malaysian mines and quite a number of North Koreans visit Malaysia for business. But not many Malaysians are said to visit the North.

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