Malaysia on Thursday banned its citizens from traveling to North Korea until further notice due to escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula following Pyongyang's missile tests.

Malaysia, one of the small number of countries that still have diplomatic ties with North Korea, said the travel ban will be reviewed "once the situation has returned to normal."

It is not immediately clear if the travel ban would affect Malaysia's soccer team, which is scheduled to play against North Korea in Pyongyang in a 2019 Asian Cup qualifier on Oct. 5.

Relations between the two countries soured earlier this year following the assassination in Kuala Lumpur of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Malaysia decides to stop importing N. Korean labor

Trial for Kim Jong Nam murder suspects set to begin Oct. 2