Malaysia said Tuesday that North Korea embassy staff are barred from leaving the country, in a tit for tat response after Pyongyang banned all Malaysian citizens from leaving. 

"No official or employee of the DPRK (North Korea) embassy is allowed to leave the country," the home ministry said in a statement, as a row over the killing of Kim Jong-Nam escalated.

The statement clarified an earlier tweet from national news agency Bernama which suggested all North Korean citizens in Malaysia were subject to the ban.