KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysia's Foreign Ministry has announced a ban on Malaysians travelling to North Korea.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hereby informs the public that all Malaysians are banned from travelling to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) until further notice," the ministry said in a statement on Thursday (Sept 28).

The decision was made in view of the "escalation of tensions" in the Korean Peninsula and related developments arising from the country's missile tests.

"The travel ban will be reviewed once the situation has returned to normal," Wisma Putra said.

Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes dominated the gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly earlier this month.

Fears of a clash between the United States and North Korea were heightened after US bombers flew off the coast of North Korea on Saturday. Pyongyang has claimed that the US had declared war against them, and threatened to shoot down US bombers.