Local and foreign media personnel swarmed the Bunga Raya Complex of the KL International Airport (KLIA) in the wee hours of today to cover the return of the nine Malaysians who were barred from leaving North Korea.
Over 100 pressmen thronged the complex as early as midnight despite news that the nine would be arriving at about 5am.
They had to go through checks by auxiliary policemen to obtain 'special wristbands' in order to enter the complex meant for VIPs.
Those without media accreditation cards issued by the Malaysian Information Department were not allowed in.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in a statement last night announced that the nine were allowed by the North Korean government to return to Malaysia.
The nine are Malaysian Embassy staff and their families: Embassy secretary Noor Saaidah Jamaludin, 29, her husband Mohd Radzuan Othman, 29, their eight-month-old son Mohamad Radhiy; Administrative Officer S. Nirmala Malar, 45, Counselor Mohd Nor Azrin Md Zain, 37, his wife Iza Karmila Ramli, 35, and their three children, Annur Zulaikha, six, Aynur Zhafirah, five and three year-old Ayscha Zinnirah.
They came home via a special aircraft which arrived at 5.03am and were welcomed by their respective family members.
On hand to welcome them was Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman.
Najib, in a posting on Twitter earlier, said: "Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah) the Special Aircraft carrying the nine Malaysians has flown out of North Korean airspace. The diplomatic crisis is over."
Following the development, the prime minister said Malaysia had allowed North Korean citizens in the country to leave.
Tensions between Kuala Lumpur and Pyongyang arose following the murder of Kim Jong-nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (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.
It was a moment of relief for Lieutenant Colonel Hasrizan Kamis when the aircraft carrying the nine Malaysians, which he was piloting was given the green light to depart from the Pyongyang International Airport.
He said the Royal Malaysia Air Force (RMAF) Bombardier Global Express aircraft was supposed to depart from the airport at 6.30 pm Thursday Malaysian time, but postponed to 7.45 pm (Malaysian time).
"The reason is not known, but since we were on foreign land, we just follow them," he told reporters at the Bunga Raya Complex of the KLIA.
Hasrizan and eight crew in the flight had arrived at the Pyongyang International Airport at 5.30 pm (Malaysian time Thursday) for the mission to bring home the nine Malaysian nationals.
The nine Malaysians were barred from leaving North Korea since March 7.
Hasrizan and the crew, who were informed of the mission last Monday, were not in their RMAF uniform, but clad in normal flight crew uniform, to avoid problems with the authorities in North Korea.
On the return flight, he said, the aircraft stopped at the Fuzhou Changle International Airport in China for refueling before continuing its journey to Malaysia.
Such a mission was the second for Hasrizan after he brought home Malaysians in Libya in 2011.
-- BERNAMA 
