Three North Koreans wanted for questioning over the murder of the estranged half-brother of their country's leader were believed to be returning home with the coffin of the victim after Malaysia agreed to a swap deal.
Photographs from Japan's Kyodo news agency show Hyon Kwang Song, the second secretary at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and Kim Uk Il, a staff member of North Korea's state airline were on a flight to Beijing on Thursday night.
The pictures match those released by the Malaysian police.
The coffin carrying the body of Kim Jong Nam was believed to have been on the same flight.
Malaysian media reported a third North Korean, Ri Ji U, who had been hiding with them at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, was also allowed to go home.
The three men and the coffin were expected to be transferred to a flight to Pyongyang.
Malaysian authorities released Kim's body on Thursday in a deal that secured the release of nine Malaysian citizens held in Pyongyang after a drawn-out diplomatic spat.
Kim Jong Nam was killed in Kuala Lumpur International airport on February 13 in a bizarre assassination using VX nerve agent.
An Indonesian and a Vietnamese woman have been charged killing him but they are regarded by South Korea and the US as pawns in an operation carried out by North Korea.
Malaysian police had named eight North Koreans they wanted to question, including the three believed to have been allowed to leave Malaysia.
Angered by the probe, Pyongyang slapped a travel ban on Malaysians leaving North Korea, trapping three diplomats and six family members, including four children.
Following "very sensitive" negotiations, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the country had agreed to release the body in exchange for the nine Malaysians in Pyongyang.
Najib's statement did not mention the safe passage given to the North Koreans.
It has denied any role in the Kim Jong Nam's killing and denounced the investigation as flawed and politically motivated.
Later on Friday, China's foreign ministry said Kim Jong Nam's body had been returned to North Korea.
"Relevant" North Korean citizens had also returned to North Korea, ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a daily news briefing, without giving details.
Malaysia's police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar, said the three North Koreans were allowed to leave the country after investigators obtained their statements.
He said "we have obtained whatever we wanted from them" and were "satisfied" with their statements.
Khalid said police were still seeking four other North Koreans who left Malaysia on February 13, the day Kim Jong Nam died.
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