The people in Malaysia should be 100 percent behind the government on any kind of action it would take over diplomatic ties with North Korea, said International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed.

He said this came about after North Korean ambassador to Malaysia Kang Chol continued to condemn the Malaysian government and the investigations being conducted by the police over the murder case of King Jong-nam.

"We feel insulted upon hearing comments from an ambassador of a country (North Korea) who questioned the credibility of our country, police and doctors. This has meddled in our affairs," he told reporters after opening the Kelantan Barisan Nasional (BN) Convention in Kota Baru today.

Mustapa said as an ambassador, Kang Chol should not have thrown various allegations at Malaysia and that such an act was an insult to the people of this country.

"We have credible institutions, these people are the professionals," he said.

In Port Dickson, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the matter involving Malaysia and North Korea should be solved diplomatically .

"The statement by the North Korean ambassador was indeed rude, maybe (he) had to, fearing the (possible) reaction by the North Korean leadership. That's why the sentences (words) that they used were not diplomatic enough," he said after the passing out parade of the Malaysian Army recruits Series 181-2/16 in Port Dickson today.

Diplomatic relations between Malaysia and North Korea had been strained since the beginning of the investigation on Jong-nam's death.

Previously, Kang Chol was reported as saying Malaysia was trying to hide something and was in cahoots with Pyongyang's enemies in the murder case.

The Malaysian government rubbished the baseless allegation by the ambassador.

On Feb 13, Jong-nam, the elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was at the KL International Airport 2 (KLIA2) at 8am to catch a flight to Macau when he was attacked by two women who suddenly appeared before him and wiped his face with their hands which contained poisonous liquid.

Jong-nam, who carried a passport bearing the name Kim Chol, died on the way to Putrajaya Hospital.

- Bernama