The worst-case scenario following the Malaysia-North Korea diplomatic fallout is that Pyongyang may order the arrest of Malaysians in the Hermit Kingdom, an academician cautions.

If this were to happen, said University of Tasmania's James Chin, it would send a signal that Pyongyang is willing to do whatever necessary to retrieve the body of the murdered Kim Jong-nam.

"Right now, they are not doing anything to Malaysians, who are not being allowed to leave the country," Chin told Malaysiakini.

Chin based his speculation on reports related to terrorist activities that had taken place in several countries, in which North Korea was involved.

"North Korea is unpredictable; it does not follow normal rules, and it would be hard to negotiate with the North Korean regime. It would do crazy things.

"There were reports that the North Korean regime in the past had been involved in terrorism," he said.

BBC has reported that North Korea has a long history of allegedly sending its agents overseas to carry out kidnappings, assassinations and bombings.

Pyongyang yesterday barred Malaysians there from leaving the republic, after North Korean envoy to Malaysia Kang Chol was expelled.

In response, Najib instructed police to bar all North Koreans from leaving Malaysia.

There are 11 Malaysians in North Korea, including embassy staff and their families.

It was also reported that approximately 1,000 North Korean citizens are in Malaysia, which until recently allowed North Koreans entry without visa.

Chin remained sceptical if the travel ban imposed by Putrajaya would mean anything to the communist dictatorship.

Still room for diplomacy

Meanwhile, analyst Phoon Wing Keong said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has called North Korea's move as holding the Malaysians hostage, in order to highlight the seriousness of the problem.

Malaysia is using this strategy to gain the support of the international community, in hope they would pressure Pyongyang to release the Malaysians, Phoon (photo) said.

The term 'hostage' would put North Korea in a bad light and suggest it has violated certain international norms by acting recklessly, he said.

Phoon explained that despite Malaysia's tit-for-tat response to the barring of each other's nationals, the international community and media do not classify the North Koreans in Malaysia as hostages, as they view Malaysia as only responding to what Pyongyang has done to Malaysians.

"The problem is, if Pyongyang would succumb easily to pressure and reprimand, then it is not the current regime (that we know)," he added.

It is too early to talk about Putrajaya sending people to rescue the 11 Malaysians stuck in North Korea, he added.

"I believe we have yet to come to that stage yet, we lack the condition from the aspect of defence (to launch a rescue mission)," he said.

This is totally different from the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, where 52 American diplomats and citizens were held hostage by a group of Iranian students who had taken over US Embassy in Tehran, he said.

"Iran and US clashed with each other from the aspect of politics and ideology, particularly after the Iranian Revolution.

"But Malaysia and North Korea have been friendly to each other, we even imposed visa-free entry for North Koreans before.

"We did not have clear sign of clashes against each other, until the murder of Kim Jong-nam," he said.

"There is still (room) for diplomatic channels for us to resolve (the stalemate), we don't have to resort to dramatic means by sending our troops there.

"And we lack such (military) strength to do so," Phoon added.