"We are glad to be back," said counselor at the Malaysian Embassy in Pyongyang, Mohd Nor Azrin Md Zain, 37, before leaving the Bunga Raya Complex at the KL International Airport with his wife Iza Karmila Ramli, 35, children and four other Malaysians.
Mohd Nor Azrin was all smiles when reporters swarmed him and his three girls, Annur Zulaikha, six, Aynur Zhafirah, five, as well as Ayscha Zinnirah, three, for comments regarding their journey back home.
"I am very glad, very happy to be with our family members and loved ones. Once again, I would like to thank the Malaysian government for putting so much effort to bring us back home," he told reporters after an emotional homecoming at the complex this morning.
Mohd Nor Azrin also expressed his appreciation for the relevant parties involved in the negotiations as well as Asean embassies in Pyongyang for extending their help and support during the whole ordeal.
"We had all the support that we could get, especially from the Asean embassies, such as the Indonesian, Laotian, Vietnamese and Cambodian embassies in Pyongyang.
"We received moral support, logistics support, food supplies and medicine supplies from them," he added.
Mohd Nor Azrin said they were not stuck in the embassy and were allowed to move around.
"We know the situation that was happening and we kept our spirits high," he said.
Meanwhile, Izlinda Ramli, 39, who is Mohd Nor Azrin's sister-in-law and his wife's sister, said she and her family did not expect Iza Karmila and her family to be back home today.
Izlinda said she only knew about them coming home when Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak announced the matter on television last night.
Following which, she and her family left Taiping, Perak, at about 11pm yesterday, to be at the airport to welcome them home.
"Our family, especially our mother, never stopped praying for their safe return. Our mother often cried, but she calmed down a bit when Iza Karmila informed that their life (in Pyongyang) was normal.
"We could communicate through the WhatsApp application, but I didn't do that often so as not to disturb their emotions," said Izlinda when met at the complex.
Swarmed by media
The housewife said Iza Karmila's three children, who initially thought it was just another 'balik kampung' trip, were shocked when they were swarmed by the media upon arriving at KLIA.
"The first thing they (the children) said to me was that they did not want to go back to Pyongyang any more," she said.
Izlinda also expressed her gratitude to the government for putting so much efforts in bringing home the nine Malaysians.
Tensions between Kuala Lumpur and Pyongyang arose following the murder of Jong-nam, 46, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at KLIA2 on Feb 13.
The diplomatic tiff came about after North Korea's ambassador to Malaysia Kang Chol made wild allegations against Malaysia on how it handled the case, resulting in Malaysia declaring him persona non grata.
He left Kuala Lumpur on March 6. Pyongyang retaliated by expelling Malaysia's ambassador to North Korea.
On March 7, Pyongyang barred Malaysians in North Korea from leaving that country and Kuala Lumpur took the same action in a tit-for-tat move.
Najib in a statement last night announced that the nine Malaysians, who were barred from leaving North Korea, were allowed to return to Malaysia.
A deal was apparently stitched with Pyongyang in which Jong-nam’s body was sent to North Korea. It was put on board a Malaysian Airlines (MAS) flight bound for Beijing at 7.39pm yesterday.
The nine Malaysians left Pyongyang on a Royal Malaysian Air Force jet at 7.45pm (Malaysian time) yesterday and arrived at KLIA at 5.03am today.
The nine are Malaysian embassy staff and their families, namely Noor Saaidah Jamaludin, 29, (ambassador's personal assistant), her husband Mohd Radzuan Othman, 29, their eight-month-old son Mohamad Radhiy; S Nirmala Malar, 45, (administrative assistant); Mohd Nor Azrin, his wife Iza Karmila, and their three children.
- Bernama
