North Korea cuts ties with Malaysia over US extradition 

Malaysia had been one of the nuclear-armed country's few allies until the North Korean leader's relative, Kim Jong Nam, was murdered with a banned nerve agent as he waited to catch a flight from Kuala Lumpur.

North Korea severed diplomatic ties with Malaysia on Friday, abruptly shutting down a once-close relationship that took a major downturn following the shock assassination of Kim Jong Un's estranged half-brother in Kuala Lumpur airport four years ago. Pyongyang's foreign ministry said it was responding to Malaysia's extradition of a North Korean citizen to the United States earlier this month -- a move it labelled an "unpardonable crime" carried out under "blind obedience" to US pressure. Malaysia had been one of the nuclear-armed country's few allies until the North Korean leader's relative, Kim Jong Nam, was murdered with a banned nerve agent as he waited to catch a flight from Kuala Lumpur.