Unidentified man allowed into embassy

Mystery man: Journalists crowding around the unidentified man outside the North Korean Embassy yesterday.

KUALA LUMPUR: An unidentified man arrived at the North Korean Embassy on foot, raising questions among the journalists staking out there.

The grey-haired man declined to identify himself despite being questioned in several languages.

However, he barked “Don’t touch me” in broken English when repor­ters pushed against him.

The man, wearing an Eternal President Kim Il-sung lapel pin on his blue checkered shirt, was holding a black laptop bag bearing the Asian Football Confederation logo and its slogan “The Future is Asia”.

Arriving at 2.10pm from the direction of the residential area, he had to wait for about 10 minutes at the gate and buzzed the door bell several times before being let into the compound.

The embassy front door opened immediately when he approached, although no one was seen greeting him. About 10 minutes after he entered, two embassy vehicles – a silver van and a black car – were seen rushing back into the compound.

Earlier, embassy consul Kim Yu-song smiled and waved at the media as he came out at around 9am to collect newspapers from the gate.

Press members were staking out in front of the embassy in Jalan Batai, Bukit Damansara, to see if the family of Ri Jong-chol, who was deported on Friday, would leave the building.