Negotiations on with North Korea to secure release of Malaysians - Attorney-General

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will decide on the approach to be adopted in securing the release of the nine Malaysians stranded in North Korea, said Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali.

He said talks to bring home the nine Malaysians were underway but declined to elaborate.

"We don't want anything to jeopardise the ongoing negotiations ... this is a very sensitive issue. The positive thing is that negotiations are still ongoing.

"However, I don't know the details of the negotiations," he said to reporters when met on the sidelines of the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights Judicial Colloquium on the Sharing of Good Practices Regarding International Human Rights Law here today.

North Korea has barred the nine Malaysians in Pyongyang from leaving the country in retaliation to Malaysia's declaring North Korean Ambassador to Malaysia Kang Chol as persona non grata over remarks he had made on the murder of North Korean Kim Jong Nam in Malaysia on Feb 13. -- Bernama