Malaysia has three options to get its nine citizens out of North Korea, according to a CNN report.

Putrajaya can give in to North Korea’s demands, compromise and negotiate a deal, or carry out a secret operation to sneak out the four diplomats and their family members at the Malaysian embassy in North Korea.

The report says the nine, who are safe for the moment, are pawns in the diplomatic fight following the murder of Kim Jong Nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s half-brother, on Feb 13.

In retaliation, Malaysia is not allowing North Koreans here to leave.

… The report quoted Yang Razali, a Malaysian politics expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, as saying: “There has never been a case of Malaysian diplomats being trapped in a tit-for-tat with another country.”