The leader of a North Korean dissident group that raided the North Korean Embassy in Madrid last month and offered stolen materials to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a Spanish court has said.

Mexican citizen Adrian Hong Chang contacted "the FBI in New York five days after the assault to facilitate information related to the incident in the embassy," Spain's National Court said Tuesday.

Chang led a "criminal organization" that identified itself as a "movement of human rights for the liberation of North Korea," National Court judge Jose de la Mata said in a written report after lifting a secrecy order on the case.

The gang allegedly broke into the embassy on February 22, shackled and gagged employees, and ran off with computers, hard drives and other documents.

They also urged the embassy's commercial attache, So Yun Sok, to defect, de la Mata said. The assailants allegedly gagged So after he refused to do so.

The next day, Chang flew to the United States and offered FBI investigators unspecified documents, the court report said, without elaborating on whether the FBI accepted the material.

De la Mata said Spanish authorities were investigating US, Mexican and South Korean citizens on charges of bodily harm, making threats and burglary.

Spain issued international arrest warrants for Chang and one of his accomplices, according to the AP news agency.

Cheollima Civil Defense, a North Korean dissident group, claimed responsibility for the incursion on Tuesday, but denied carrying out an attack.

The incident took place days before a meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

The timing fueled speculation that the group was trying to get information on North Korea's former ambassador to Spain. Kim Hyok Chol became North Korea's top nuclear negotiator in talks with the United States after he was expelled as ambassador in September 2017.

Asked about Chang's offer, the FBI said it never comments on an investigation and that it "enjoys a strong working relationship with our Spanish law enforcement partners."

The US State Department denied that Washington was involved in the break-in. "The United States government had nothing to do with this," a spokesman said.

North Korea has not yet commented on the raid.

Every day, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. Sign up for the newsletter here. </s> SEOUL, South Korea — The bitter diplomatic dispute between North Korea and Malaysia over the poisoning death of leader Kim Jong-un’s estranged half-brother escalated dramatically Tuesday, with Pyongyang saying it had banned Malaysians from leaving North Korea.

That was followed quickly by Malaysia saying North Korean embassy staff were barred from leaving its country. Malaysia had already expelled the North Korean ambassador on Monday.

The North’s Foreign Ministry told the Malaysian Embassy in Pyongyang that it would temporarily ban the exit of Malaysian citizens now in the North, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

It said the exit ban will be valid “until the safety of the diplomats and citizens of (North Korea) in Malaysia is fully guaranteed through the fair settlement of the case that occurred in Malaysia.”

Malaysia is pursuing several North Korean suspects allegedly involved in the killing, including a diplomat at the North’s Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia has not accused the North of being behind the killing of Kim Jong-nam at Kuala Lumpur’s airport three weeks ago, but South Korean has.

Malaysian Deputy Foreign Minister Reezal Marican told reporters at parliament that there are 11 Malaysians in North Korea: Three working at the Malaysian Embassy, two United Nations workers and six family members.

The North said Malaysian diplomats and citizens “may work and live normally under the same conditions and circumstances as before” during the period of the temporary exit ban.

It also said that the Malaysian ambassador would be expelled, although he has already been recalled to Malaysia.

Kim Jong-nam died less than 20 minutes after two women wiped VX nerve agent on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport on Feb. 13, authorities say. The women, one from Vietnam and one from Indonesia, have been charged with murder.

North Korea has denied any role in the killing and accused Malaysia of conspiring with its enemies. North Korean Ambassador Kang Chol rejected a Malaysian autopsy that found Kim was killed with VX, a banned chemical weapon.

On Monday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the decision to expel Kang sent a clear message.

“It means that we are firm in defending our sovereignty and dignity,” Najib said. “Don’t ever insult our country and don’t try to cause disruptions here.”

Malaysian authorities declared Kang “persona non grata” on Saturday and gave him two days to leave the country. He arrived late Monday afternoon at the Kuala Lumpur airport, where he told reporters that Malaysia was doing “great harm” to the countries’ relations.

Malaysia’s finding that VX killed Kim boosted speculation that North Korea was behind the attack. Experts say the oily poison was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory, and North Korea is widely believed to possess large quantities of chemical weapons, including VX.

North Korea is trying to retrieve Kim’s body, but has not acknowledged that the victim is Kim Jong-un’s half brother, as Malaysian government officials have confirmed.

Ri Tong Il, a former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Nations, has said Kim probably died of a heart attack because he suffered from heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said pathologists have ruled that out.

The two women accused of poisoning Kim say they were duped into thinking they were taking part in a harmless prank.

Malaysia is looking for seven North Korean suspects, four of whom are believed to have left the country on the day of the killing. The three others, including an official at the North Korean Embassy and an employee of Air Koryo, North Korea’s national carrier, are believed to still be in Malaysia. </s> Malaysia has expelled the North Korean ambassador to the country, declaring him "persona non grata" and asking the diplomat to leave Malaysia within 48 hours.

The move on Saturday comes nearly three weeks after Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was murdered at Kuala Lumpur's airport with a toxic nerve agent.

US and South Korean officials have said he was killed by agents of the North Korean regime.

Kang Chol, North Korea's ambassador to Malaysia, said last month his country "cannot trust" Malaysia's handling of the probe, and also accused the country of "colluding with outside forces" in a veiled reference to bitter rival South Korea. </s> The Malaysian government has expelled North Korea's ambassador after he criticised the investigation into the killing of Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of leader Kim Jong Un.

In a statement Malyasia's foreign minister Anifah Aman said a notice was sent to the North Korean Embassy on Saturday informing it that ambassador Kang Chol must leave the country within 48 hours.

He said that earlier in the week, Malaysia demanded North Korea apologise for criticising the investigation into the killing of Kim at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13.

Aman said no apology had come and none appears forthcoming, so Malaysia has decided to expel the ambassador.

Kang had said Malaysia may be "trying to conceal something" and that the autopsy on Kim was carried out "unilaterally and excluding our attendance". </s> Malaysia has ordered the North Korean envoy out of the country following the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un. Malaysia said on Saturday it was expelling the North Korean ambassador, escalating a diplomatic row between the two countries over the murder of the estranged half-brother of North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un.

Start the conversation, or Read more at CBC News. </s> Tokyo: Japan said on Friday it will impose fresh sanctions on North Korea by freezing the assets of Chinese and Namibian firms doing business with the nuclear-armed state.

The move against a half dozen organisations and a couple of individuals comes days after Washington expanded its own punitive measures against Chinese and Russian firms, as well as people linked to Pyongyang.

The US move drew an angry response from Beijing, North Korea`s key ally, while Japanese media said Friday that Namibia has been tightening its links to the North in recent years.

"We will continue to make strong calls (for North Korea) to take actions toward denuclearisation," Yoshihide Suga, the Japanese government`s top spokesman, told a regular press briefing.

"Now is the time to apply pressure," he added.

The sanctions are aimed at disrupting the flow of cash funding North Korean weapons programmes, which are in violation of United Nations resolutions.

Japan has previously frozen the assets of entities and individuals involved in natural resources and research work related to Pyongyang`s nuclear and missile development programmes.

The US and its allies, particularly Japan and South Korea, have been on high alert in recent months as North Korea carried out successive missile tests.

Tensions have eased since North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un pulled back from a plan to send a salvo of missiles towards the US Pacific territory of Guam.

But Pyongyang Wednesday disclosed significant technological advances and ambitious plans to further improve its missile capabilities.

US President Donald Trump, like his predecessors, has called on China to play more active roles in convincing North Korea to stop threatening its neighbours and the US.

But China has so far been lukewarm on the idea, preferring to address the issue through long-stalled talks.

On Friday, China hit out the new Japanese sanctions.

"We firmly oppose any other unilateral sanction outside the framework of the UN Security Council, in particular those targeting Chinese entities and individuals," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular press briefing in Beijing.

"We urge the Japanese side to stop this and if it insists on doing this wilfully, it must accept the consequences," she added, without elaborating.

China backed new United Nations sanctions against North Korea this month and has announced that it was upholding them by banning imports of iron, iron ore and seafood from its neighbour.

Beijing had already suspended imports of North Korean coal in February. </s> The foreign ministry said the expulsion is ‘part of the process by the Malaysian government to review its relations’ with North Korea.

Kang claimed Malaysia's investigation was politically motivated and said Kuala Lumpur was conspiring with 'hostile forces'. (Photo: AP)

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia has expelled North Korea's ambassador, giving him 48 hours to leave the country in a major break in diplomatic relations over the airport assassination of the half-brother of Pyongyang's leader.

Kim Jong-Nam was poisoned February 13 with deadly nerve agent VX. North Korea has not acknowledged the dead man's identity but has repeatedly disparaged the murder investigation, accusing Malaysia of conniving with its enemies.

"The ambassador has been declared persona non grata" after Malaysia demanded but did not receive an apology for Pyongyang's attacks on the investigation, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Anifah Haji Aman said.

"Malaysia will react strongly against any insults made against it or any attempt to tarnish its reputation," he said in a statement released late Saturday.

Ambassador Kang Chol failed to present himself at the ministry when summoned and "is expected to leave Malaysia within 48 hours," the statement added. The expulsion deadline expires 6pm on Monday.

Arch-rival South Korea has blamed the North for the murder, citing what they say was a standing order from leader Kim Jong-Un to kill his exiled half-brother who may have been seen as a potential rival.

The foreign ministry said the expulsion is "part of the process by the Malaysian government to review its relations" with North Korea, which before Kim's assassination were unusually cosy.

"North Korea must learn to respect other countries," Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said Sunday.

The expulsion shows "we are serious about solving this problem and we do not want it to be manipulated," he added.

On Sunday evening, a senior government official who did not want to be named said Kang was still in the country and was expected to leave on a flight to Beijing on Monday.

The diplomatic spat erupted in February when Malaysian police rejected North Korean diplomats' demands to hand over Kim's body.

Kang then claimed the investigation was politically motivated and said Kuala Lumpur was conspiring with "hostile forces".

Malaysia summoned Kang for a dressing-down, with Prime Minister Najib Razak saying the ambassador's statement was "diplomatically rude".

Malaysia issued a February 28 deadline for an apology, but "no such apology has been made, neither has there been any indication that one is forthcoming."

Malaysia has also recalled its envoy to Pyongyang and cancelled a rare visa-free travel deal with North Korea.

Police are seeking seven North Korean suspects in their probe but on Friday released the only North Korean arrested for lack of evidence.

After Ri Jong-Chol was deported, he claimed police offered him a comfortable life in Malaysia for a false confession, saying the investigation was "a conspiracy to impair the dignity of the Republic (North Korea)".

Two women -- one Vietnamese and one Indonesian -- have been charged with murdering Kim Jong-Nam, with airport CCTV footage showing them approaching the heavyset 45-year-old and apparently smearing his face with a cloth.

Police say he suffered a seizure and died less than 20 minutes later. Swabs of the dead man's face revealed traces of VX nerve agent.

North Korea had few friends even before the assassination, but the fallout from the killing looks set to further isolate the nuclear-armed state.

Malaysia formally established diplomatic relations with North Korea in 1973 and opened an embassy in Pyongyang in 2003.

It has provided a conduit between Pyongyang and the wider world in recent years, with Kuala Lumpur serving as a discreet meeting place for talks between the regime and the United States.

A recently released report by a UN Panel of Experts reviewing compliance with sanctions against Pyongyang identified a front company run by North Korean intelligence out of Malaysia, selling military communications equipment to Eritrea, with suppliers in China and an office in Singapore.

Up to 1,000 North Koreans currently work in Malaysia and their remittances are a valuable source of foreign currency for the isolated regime.

North Korea imports refined oil, natural rubber and palm oil from Malaysia, which buys electrical and electronic items, chemicals as well as iron and steel products from North Korea.

Last week Malaysia's trade minister Mustapa Mohamed said the spat would have no impact on Kuala Lumpur as trade with the reclusive country is "insignificant". </s> Malaysia has declared North Korea’s ambassador Kang Chol “persona non grata” and expelled after saying “foreign forces” colluded in the murder of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Mr Kang, who said Pyongyang “cannot trust” Malaysia’s handling of the investigation, has been asked to leave Malaysia within 48 hours, the latest escalation in the diplomatic row between the two countries.

Kim Jong-am, the estranged half-brother of Kim Jong-un, was killed on February 13th at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, after two women allegedly smeared his face with the deadly VX nerve agent.

The two women, Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam and Siti Aisyah from Indonesia, were formally charged with murder last week. They both said they thought they were taking part in a TV prank.

Mr Kang had been fiercely critical of Malaysia and accused his host country of coming under the influence of “foreign powers”, a veiled reference to North Korea’s bitter rivals, South Korea.

“It should be recalled that the ambassador has alleged that the conduct of the investigation into the death of a North Korean citizen on February 13th indicates that the Malaysian government had something to hide and that it colluded with outside powers to defame his country,” foreign minister Anifah Haji Aman said.

He said the release of North Korean national Ri Jong-chol due to lack of evidence was proof that the investigation was carried out in an impartial, fair and transparent manner, and Malaysia had demanded an apology from the ambassador, but none was forthcoming.

Malaysian police are seeking several North Koreans, including the second secretary at the embassy, over the death of Kim Jong-nam.

“Malaysia will react strongly against any insults made against it or any attempt to tarnish its reputation.”

Malaysian primemMinister Najib Razak had previously described the comments as “diplomatically rude” and last week Malaysia cancelled visa-free entry for North Koreans entering the country from March 6th.

Malaysia has been one of the few countries friendly to North Korea in the region.

En route back to Pyongyang on Saturday, Ri Jong-chol the deported North Korean, said he and his family had been threatened by Malaysian police to make a confession.

“These men kept telling me to admit to the crime, and if not, my whole family would be killed, and you too won’t be safe. If you accept everything, you can live a good life in Malaysia,” Mr Ri told reporters at Beijing airport on the way back to Pyongyang. “They were plotting to tarnish my country’s reputation.”

Kim Jong-nam was travelling using a diplomatic passport under the name Kim Chol. Pyongyang has not yet confirmed that the body is that of Kim Jong-nam, acknowledging him only as a North Korean citizen. </s> Malaysia said on Saturday it has expelled the North Korean ambassador in a deepening diplomatic row over the assassination of the half-brother of Pyongyang’s leader at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. “The ambassador has been declared persona non grata,” Malaysia’s foreign ministry said in a statement, adding it had demanded but not received an apology over Pyongyang’s attack on its investigation of the case.

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“The expulsion of the DPRK (North Korea) Ambassador is… an indication of the government’s concern that Malaysia may have been used for illegal activities,” the statement added. Kim Jong-Nam, 45, was poisoned last month with VX, a nerve agent so deadly that it is classed as a weapon of mass destruction.

The dramatic killing at Kuala Lumpur airport prompted an international probe and lurid stories of North Korea’s Cold War-style tradecraft. South Korea has blamed the North for the murder, citing what they say was a standing order from leader Kim Jong-Un to kill his exiled half-brother who may have been seen as a potential rival.

North Korea, which has not acknowledged the dead man’s identity, has vehemently protested the investigation, saying Malaysia is in cahoots with its enemies. In response, Malaysia has cancelled a rare visa-free travel deal with North Korea — a key conduit to the outside world — and recalled its envoy to Pyongyang, putting the skids under once cozy ties.
Mexico expels the ambassador of North Korea in the country over the recent nuclear weapons testing.