Malaysians banned from leaving North Korea

Malaysia responds by barring North Koreans
from leaving amid escalating tension over killing
of King Jong-nam.

Pyongyang has banned all Malaysian citizens from leaving
North Korea, state media said, amid an escalating row over
the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother.

In an immediate reponse, Malaysia Prime Minister Najib 
Razak called on North Korea to immediately release all its citizens and also instructed the police "to prevent all North Korean citizens in Malaysia from leaving the country until we are assured of the safety and security of all Malaysians in North Korea".

"This abhorrent act, effectively holding our citizens hostage, 
is in total disregard of all international law and diplomatic
norms," Najib said in a statement, adding that he has
summoned an emergency meeting of the National Security
Council.

The North's foreign ministry notified the Malaysian embassy in Pyongyang of the reason for the ban and said it had hoped
the case would be swiftly and fairly resolved in order to
develop bilateral ties with Malaysia, the North's KCNA news
agency reported.

"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 on Tuesday, citing the foreign

ministry.

reporting from Kuala Lumpur, said
police had cordoned off the North Korean embassy.
"The road on both ends of the North Korean embassy in
Kuala Lumpur has been blocked," she said.
"Initially we were told this ban only affected the North Korean
embassy staff and officials. But through the prime minister's
statement, it's clear that it extends to all North Koreans in the
country."
Pyongyang and Kuala Lumpur had unusually strong links for
years, but have been set at loggerheads following the
assassination of King Jong-nam 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.

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".

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 late Monday by
formally ordering out his counterpart - who had already been
recalled for consultations.

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.

Earlier, Malaysia decided to cancel visa-free entry for North
Koreans entering the country. North Koreans are now 
required to obtain a visa as of March 6 before entering Malaysia for national security reasons, state news agency Bernama reported on Thursday, citing the deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.