COMMENT | The timing and sequence of events made it difficult to not raise red flags. On March 29, 2017, a total of 6,300 tonnes of anthracite coal was unloaded from a cargo ship bearing the North Korean flag docked in Butterworth, Penang.

According to an exclusive report by Reuters, the 92-metre-long ship Kum-Ya was initially stopped at sea for prior inspection and safety checks by various Malaysian authorities at the instruction of the Foreign Ministry before allowed to dock and unload on the same day.

Less than 24 hours later in the evening of March 30, 2017, nine Malaysian citizens who had been barred from travelling since March 7, 2017, finally boarded a RMAF aircraft in Pyongyang and headed back to Kuala Lumpur.

The flight took off at 7.30pm Malaysian time, almost at the same moment a Malaysian Airlines (MH360) airplane flew off from KL International Airport to Beijing. In the MH large Airbus A330-300 commercial aircraft were the cold and embalmed body of Kim Jong-nam, three North Korean citizens named earlier by the Malaysian police as suspects in Kim’s murder and a number of unidentified flight crew and security personnel.

It was a swap deal that many opined that had brought nine Malaysian citizens back to our country and their families safe. Nothing is more important than the safe returns of our citizens. Indeed, negotiating with the reclusive and temperamental Kim Jong-un regime would be a nightmarish task even for any diplomats and political leaders no matter how skilled and shrewd they are.

Even the harshest critic of Najib Abdul Razak could not say he failed completely in this negotiation with North Korea. That said, in the interest of long-term national security and a more enlightened public discussion, there is a room for independent analysis that seeks to present facts and arguments unencumbered by the official narrative. Critical questions must be asked to shed more light to the events surrounding the Kim Jong-nam’s case and the consequences.

Hence the question - other than the publicly-told ‘hostage’ swap deal, were there additional, undisclosed payments and deals Malaysia made or forced to take for the safe returns of nine citizens from Pyongyang on March 31? Further, was the March 29 coal shipment delivered by a North Korean vessel to Butterworth a pure coincidence or was that a negotiated component of the deal between Najib and Kim Jong-un?

In the unfortunate case of the latter, one must ask whether it was a one-off shipment or we will soon expect more regular calling of North Korean vessels to our ports...