North Korea has temporarily banned Malaysians from leaving the country amid an escalating row over the death of Kim Jong-un's half brother.
The secretive country claims the move is to ensure the safety of its diplomats and citizens in Malaysia.
The North's foreign ministry has notified the Malaysian embassy in Pyongyang of the reason for the measure.
It
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.
The move comes days after bizarre claims that Kim Jong-nam was likely killed by a heart attack - even though an autopsy found he was assassinated with a highly-toxic nerve agent.
The
45-year-old died less than 20 minutes after he was poisoned with a high
dose of VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur's international airport last
month.
Malaysian officials says Kim Jong-nam was killed with the
chemical, which has been classified by the UN as a weapon of mass
destruction.
But North Korea claims that there are strong indications that a heart attack - not a nerve agent - was to blame for the death of the exiled playboy.
Suspect Siti Aisyah is from Indonesia
(
Intelligence officials from South Korea and the US claim
Jong-nam was assassinated in a plot organised by North Korean agents,
although the only suspects charged so far are a woman from Indonesia and
a woman from Vietnam.
North Korea so far has not acknowledged that the man who died in the February 13 incident is Jong-nam.
Jong-nam is pictured shortly before his death
North Korea Dictator Kim Jong-un BANS Malaysians from leaving the country over murder of half brother Kim Jong-nam
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