Malaysia-North Korea ties not severed

Malaysia did not sever relations with North Korea after the republic fulfilled the demands made in the negotiation process which led to the release of nine Malaysian nationals who were detained in Pyongyang for more than nine months recently.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said although faced with problems, the settlement reached had fulfilled two objectives of the negotiations stipulated by the government.

The two objectives concerned were to ensure the safety of all the nine Malaysian nationals detained and to guarantee that national sovereignty was not ignored by anyone.

"Thus, we hope North Korea will no longer raise such problems as this could jeopardise diplomatic relations between the two countries," he told Malaysian reporters in Chennai at the conclusion of his two-day visit today.

The Prime Minister was on a six-day official visit to India, and would proceed to New Delhi later this evening.