Talks on with N Korea for return of nine stranded citizens: Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur

MALAYSIA said talks were underway on Monday for the release of nine citizens stranded in North Korea by a travel ban, while its defence minister tried to ease anxieties among the public about the risks of angering an unpredictable nuclear-armed state.

Formerly friendly relations between the two countries soured in the wake of an investigation into the murder in Kuala Lumpur last month of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un.

Angered by the Malaysian police identifying North Korean suspects and wanting to question others, including a diplomat at the embassy in Kuala Lumpur, North Korea slapped a travel ban on Malaysians leaving its borders, prompting tit-for-tat…