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. 

Last week, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak ordered police to stop any North Koreans from leaving the country, in retaliation to Pyongyang's decision to bar the 11 Malaysians in North Korea from departing. 

The United Nations negotiated the departure of two Malaysians, who are UN staff, while three diplomats and their family members are still in North Korea. 

The government assured that nine Malaysians are safe and free to move about in the hermit nation, pending Wisma Putra's negotiations with the North Korean delegation in Kuala Lumpur to lift the travel ban. 

Meanwhile, Zahid said Putrajaya has been in talks with Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg over the travel ban on North Koreans as Sarawak has immigration autonomy.

There are 315 North Koreans in Malaysia, including four who are part of the Malaysia My Second Home programme. 

Diplomatic relations between Malaysia and North Korea are strained following the death of Kim Jong-nam - half brother of North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un - at KLIA2 on Feb 13. 

Two women - an Indonesian and a Vietnamese - have been charged with Jong-nam's murder. 

Police said two more suspects, including a diplomat, are holed up in the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur. 

North Korea's envoy Kang Chol was expelled after he disparaged Malaysian investigations into the case. 

North Korea has denied involvement in the death, but Najib said it had "assassinated" its citizen on Malaysian soil.