Nine Malaysians freed by Pyongyang following a deal that ended a diplomatic crisis over the assassination of Kim Jong-Nam arrived home Friday, a foreign ministry official and AFP reporter said.

The white Bombardier BD-700 Global Express long-range corporate jet that ferried the three embassy staff and six family members landed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport before sunrise.

Kim, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, was killed with the lethal nerve agent VX on February 13 at a Kuala Lumpur airport in a brazen Cold War-style assassination that triggered a diplomatic row between Malaysia and North Korea.