North Korea says the recent "incident" involving the death of leader Kim Jong-Un's half-brother was a plot by South Korea and the US to bring the regime down.

Kim Jong-Nam was poisoned with the lethal nerve agent VX at Kuala Lumpur airport on 13 February.

Police are trying to trace seven North Korean suspects, four of whom left Malaysia on the day of the murder.

Referring to North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea (DPRK), diplomat Pak Myong Ho told reporters: "The recent incident that occurred in Malaysia was clearly a political scheme by the US and South Korea aimed at hurting the DPRK's reputation and overthrowing the DPRK regime.

"The only parties that will benefit from this incident are the enemy countries."


Investigators in Malaysia have put out a wanted notice through Interpol for four diplomats sought in connection with the killing.

Image: Doan Thi Huang and Siti Aisyah have been charged with the murder of Kim Jong-Nam

Police believe the four fled to Pyongyang, while the other three suspects are thought to be hiding in the North Korea embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

The Interpol red notice alerts police in countries that are members of Interpol to share information and intelligence on suspects with a view to arresting and then extraditing them. North Korea is not a member.

The Interpol notice names four North Korean men aged between 32 to 56 years old: Hong Song Hak, Ri Ji Hyon, O Jong Gil and Ri Jae Nam.

Two women - Vietnamese Doan Thi Huang and Indonesian Siti Aisyah - have been arrested and charged with the murder.

CCTV footage at the airport shows them approaching the victim and apparently smearing his face with a piece of cloth.

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Mr Kim's family have now given consent to Malaysia to decide what to do with his body, police in Kuala Lumpur said.

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Police confirmed his identity using the DNA of one of his children after he was found to be holding a diplomatic passport in the name of Kim Chol when he was killed.

Deputy national police Chief Noor Rashid Ibrahim said: "I was made to understand that they are leaving it to our government to deal with it (the body) ... yes, they have given their consent."

Pyongyang has denounced the Malaysian investigation as an attempt to smear the secretive regime, insisting that the most likely cause of the 45-year-old's death was a heart attack.

The killing sparked a massive row between Malaysia and North Korea, which have expelled each other's ambassadors.