The nine Malaysians, comprising staff of the Malaysian Embassy in Pyongyang and their families who were barred from leaving North Korea in the aftermath of the murder of North Korean Kim Jong-nam last month, were not harassed by North Korean authorities during the travel ban and their life went on as usual.

Counsellor Mohd Nor Azrin Md Zain, one of the nine who were held in the North Korean capital, also thanked Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for bringing them home.

He said they were nevertheless concerned with the ban issued by the North Korean authorities since they had committed no wrong.

"But we know that we have to keep our spirit up. I must admit that most of us were concerned that our parents and close family members are worried about us," he told reporters after arriving from Pyongyang at the Bunga Raya Complex, KL International Airport, at 5am today.

He said the travel ban had stopped them from travelling to Beijing, China, as they usually did every month to stock up their supplies.

"As you may be aware that every month, we travel to Beijing to transfer money in Euros and buy food," he said.

Mohd Nor Azrin said the ban did not prevent them from communicating through telephone and WhatsApp with their families in Malaysia, which he said was comforting.

"Since we were instructed to submit daily reports to Wisma Putra, that was also comforting as we knew that our welfare was consistently monitored by our Foreign Ministry," he said.

Mohd Azrin said they were also thankful to other embassies in Pyongyang, which were generous in helping them, especially to bring food and other supplies.

"I must single out the Asean countries that helped us, Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, as well as Pakistan, Poland and Sweden," he added.

- Bernama