Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said the 11 Malaysian citizens who have been made an unwilling guests in North Korea are not under detention.
"We have been informed that they are allowed to carry on with their lives as usual. They are not confined (dikurung).
"They can leave (their residence) and conduct their businesses as usual.
"So there is no worry about their safety," he told journalists at the Parliament building today.
Najib also stressed that the safety of the three diplomatic staff, two United Nations workers and five family members is of utmost priority.
Yesterday, Pyongyang announced that Malaysians would be barred from leaving the country until the issue of Kim Jong-nam's murder is properly resolved.
Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was killed using VX nerve agent at KLIA2 on Feb 13.
Vietnamese citizen Doan Thi Huong and Indonesian citizen Siti Aisyah were charged with the murder on Feb 28.
Police believe four North Korean men were the main suspects but have since fled the country.
The cops also released another North Korean chemist Ri Jong-chol after failing to secure sufficient evidence to charge him.
Pyongyang is demanding the return of Jong-nam's body but Malaysia had indicated that it would release the body to Jong-nam's next-of-kin.
Jong-nam's family have been living in exile in Macau but have yet to come forward to claim the body.
North Korean ambassador to Malaysia Kang Chol had accused Malaysia of conspiring with "hostile forces" to frame Pyongyang for the murder using a chemical weapon.
Wisma Putra declared Kang Chol a "persona non grata" after he refused to apologise and ordered him out of the country on March 4.
Pyongyang responded by similarly ordering out Malaysian ambassador Mohamad Nizan Mohamad who had already been recalled to Malaysia on Feb 22 for consultation, on top of banning Malaysians from leaving the country.- Mkini
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