A total 50 North Korean workers in Sarawak will be deported because their work visas have expired, said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

They are among more than 170 North Koreans working in mines in the Borneo state, in a government-to-government arrangement.

"They will be sent to Pyongyang because their visas have expired. They are not in temporary detention in Sarawak and will be sent home after the documentation process is completed," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby today...