Japan's former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and longtime Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi are among the prominent figures assassinated in the 21st century.

(AP Photo/Vincent Thian)KUALA LUMPUR – North Korean diplomats vacated their embassy in Malaysia and were expelled Sunday, after the two nations cut diplomatic relations in a spat over the extradition of a North Korean criminal suspect to the United States. The North Korean flag and embassy signage were removed from the premise in a Kuala Lumpur suburb. Ties between North Korea and Malaysia have been virtually frozen since the 2017 assassination of the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Malaysia denounced the decision and in a tit-for-tat response, gave North Korean diplomats 48 hours to leave. Malaysian officials never officially accused North Korea of involvement in Kim’s death, but prosecutors made it clear throughout the trial that they suspected a North Korean connection.

Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein tweeted that all Malaysian diplomats in North Korea had returned after the embassy’s operations were suspended in 2017. Experts say North Korea is taking a tough stance over the extradition because it sees it as a pressure tactic against the North. Nam said North Korea also likely worries that similar cases involving North Korean nationals could occur in other Southeast Asian countries. North Korea and Malaysia established diplomatic ties in 1973, but their relations suffered major setbacks over the 2017 killing of Kim Jong Nam. North Korea denied the victim was Kim Jong Nam and disputed it had any role in the man’s death.