YOURSAY | ‘The whole situation has been mismanaged by Putrajaya and Wisma Putra.’

PM says M'sians held 'hostage', convenes emergency meet

Negarawan: Right from the murder of Kim Jong-nam, in conjunction with the threats and intimidation from North Korea, it should have been anticipated that the Malaysian embassy employees will face a high risk if they did not evacuate immediately.

I had mentioned this specifically that Wisma Putra was best advised to do so, instead of just recalling the Malaysian ambassador to North Korea.

The whole situation has been mismanaged by Putrajaya and Wisma Putra. The lives of the Malaysian embassy employees are at stake now.

Next, what is the Home Ministry doing about the 1000-plus North Koreans who are residing in Malaysia? They represent an open threat to the country and should be deported immediately.

Or are there some Umno politicians who are still thinking about their allegedly illegal businesses with North Korea?

Clever Voter: The competencies of the Najib government will be put to another test, having underestimated the reactions of North Korea rogue state. Diplomacy seldom works. A third party is necessary. Once again China will come to their rescue, if asked.

Having seen how the so-called experts performed in the previous crises, one wonders whether they can pull through. This is not another ordinary person who got killed. It's a targeted 'state enemy'.

There will be exchange of 'prisoners' eventually. But it teaches this greedy and self-centred government to be responsible when choosing its friends.

Doc: PM Najib Razak has to be very careful in handling the North Koreans. Firstly, this is not the time to make the usual Umno mistakes, especially when handling a rogue nation that has no standing in the world, and has nuclear bombs and is crazy enough to use them.

Already they have used the banned VX nerve agent on our soil, with complete disregard for international treaties or Malaysia’s sovereignty. Not to mention two years ago, they launched a devastating cyber attack against Sony Pictures.

Secondly, the North Koreans are masters of the Mexican stand-off. They have been taunting their nukes and missiles at the Americans, South Koreans and the Japanese. Most often, they get what they want only to repeat the stand-off, time and again, to extract more and more concessions.

Hence, I am sure the North Koreans will put pressure on Putrajaya and will use those captured Malaysians as pawns to serve their interests.

AntiRacial: How come our beloved, diligent, intelligent, efficient ministers never think about the consequences when they expelled Kang Chol, North Korea's envoy to Malaysia?

What precautions did they take for Malaysians in North Korea before they expelled the envoy?

Falcon: Two wrongs don’t make a right. Somewhere, someone has lost that special skill and gift of diplomacy and treating what is now a full-blown international dispute like one does with our opposition politicians.

My two sen worth: call a truce and both release their respective hostages. We immediately break off all diplomatic ties with North Korea.

Kangkung: Yes, MO1 (Malaysian Official 1) has to tread carefully in dealing with this rogue nation or its erratic leader, Kim Jong-un, might just fire the Taepodong, one of his intercontinental-range missiles, which can easily reach Putrajaya.

The North Korean government is made up of lunatics, and thus you cannot negotiate with it. Having diplomatic relations with a rogue nation like North Korea is a big mistake. It is time to sever relations permanently.

My Opinion: Can anybody explain to me why, in the first place, there is a North Korea embassy in Malaysia and why they can enter our country without a visa?

Isn't North Korea a rouge nation?

Vijay47: Najib’s “sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander” may work against the opposition, Bersih, and minorities. Nevertheless, we have 11 embassy officials and an unknown number of other Malaysians trapped in Pyongyang.

Whatever our contempt for Najib and friends, our concern should be the safety and release of those Malaysians. Under the circumstances, holding the North Koreans here, however an abhorrent act it may be, is necessary. When dealing with Kim Jong-un, you must have some chips in hand when going for the table talks.

Then again, knowing that it is Kim Jong-un, anything can happen. What a speedy wheel karma is - last month Malaysians and North Korea were merrily involved in illegal trade; today we must face the consequences of that insane association.

Anonymous 759201436321741: Najib, perhaps in your entire political career, you have not been put to the real test of political leadership until now.

Your attempt to play hardball with a rogue nation might place innocent citizens in grave danger. North Korea even has the temerity to launch ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) into the Sea of Japan.

If North Korea is prepared to take on the US, do you really think they are concerned about what you just did (stopping North Koreans from leaving Malaysia)?

N Korea temporarily bans M'sians from leaving the country

Anonymous_4171: I pity all the Malaysians who are there. It’s a very uncalled for action by North Korea. I’m not certain how our government is going to tackle this.

JusticeNow!: What do you expect from a guy who killed his own uncle?

This is a guy who stands up to China and US without batting an eye, and is prepared to bomb innocent fishermen of South Korea just to make a point. How far will Malaysia go?

Quigonbond: North Koreans are basically holding Malaysians in North Korea as ransom for the release of murderers and accessories to murder in Malaysia. This is effectively an abduction/kidnapping.

Wisma Putra's tit-for-tat policy of preventing North Koreans from leaving Malaysia is useless and pointless to resolve this crisis.

In effect, if Malaysia proceeds with its plans to make arrests, etc, North Korea's despotic leader may well make an example of killing off Malaysians held "captive" there.

Even if there is no legal culpability, if blood is spilled, blood will be in the hands of Wisma Putra.

They cannot escape the moral culpability, knowing how erratic the supreme leader is and their failure to extract Malaysians from North Korea before escalating the diplomatic tension.

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