N. Korea bans Malaysians from leaving the country

Pyongyang is banning all Malaysian citizens from leaving North Korea, state media said on Tuesday, potentially holding them hostage amid an increasingly heated diplomatic row over the killing of Kim Jong-Nam in Kuala Lumpur.

“All Malaysian nationals in the DPRK will be temporarily prohibited from leaving the country until the incident that happened in Malaysia is properly solved,” the official Korea Central News Agency said, citing the foreign ministry.

Pyongyang and Kuala Lumpur had unusually strong links for years, but have been set at loggerheads by the killing of the half-brother of leader Kim Jong-Un by two women using VX nerve agent.

Seoul has blamed Pyongyang for the assassination, and Kuala Lumpur has sought several North Koreans for questioning, although the only one it arrested was released for lack of evidence.

The North has yet to confirm the dead man’s identity but has denounced the Malaysian investigation as an attempt to smear it.

Malaysia expelled the North’s ambassador as diplomatic tensions soared, and Pyongyang retaliated on Monday by formally ordering out his counterpart —— who had already been recalled for consultations.

According to KCNA, Pyongyang’s foreign ministry expressed hopes that the Malaysian government would solve the issue in a “fair and timely manner based on goodwill”.

Malaysian diplomats and nationals in the North would be allowed to “conduct business and live normally” while the travel ban is in place, it added.

North Korean embassy sealed off

Malaysian police sealed off the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur to ascertain the number of officials inside, the deputy home minister said on Tuesday, as tensions escalated over the killing of the North Korean leader's estranged half-brother.

“We are trying to physically identify all the embassy staff who are here,” deputy home minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed told reporters outside the embassy.

He said staff would not be allowed to leave the embassy "until we are satisfied of their numbers and where they are".

North Korea barred Malaysians from leaving the country on Tuesday, prompting Malaysia to take tit-for-tat action, as police in Kuala Lumpur sought to question up to three men hiding in the North Korean embassy over the murder of Kim Jong Nam.

Najib Razak reacts

Malaysian prime minister says North Korea ‘effectively holding our citizens hostage’ by barring them from leaving.