KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 — The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents is not interested in cooperation with the tourism industry in North Korea because it requires the involvement of a "middleman” from a third country, said Matta president Datuk Hamzah Rahmat.

Furthermore, he said, Malaysians seldom travelled to North Korea because going there was not easy.

"Even if they went there, it was purely for business,” he said to Bernama here today.

Hamzah said about 3,100 travel agents came under the Matta umbrella and 80 per cent of them were registered with the Tourism and Culture Ministry.

He also welcomed a suggestion by Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz that Malaysians stay away from North Korea for the time being.

Malaysians have been advised to refrain from visiting North Korea for security reasons in the wake of the murder of Kim Jong-nam, elder half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in Malaysia on February 13. — Bernama