Two members of a North Korean assassination team have reportedly been arrested in Beijing while plotting an attempt on the life of Kim Han-sol, the son of Kim Jong-nam, who was poisoned in a Malaysia airport in February.

Citing North Korean sources, South Korea's JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said that seven agents had been involved in the plot to kill Kim Han-sol, who is the nephew of current North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and has in the past been critical of the regime in Pyongyang.

"Special operatives belonging to the North's reconnaissance team penetrated [China] to remove Kim Han-sol, but some of them were arrested last week by the Chinese Ministry of National Security and are currently under investigation at facilities outside Beijing", the source told the newspaper.

No information was provided on the whereabouts of the remaining members of the team, which was apparently made up of an action unit, a support group and a unit designed to identify the location of Kim Han-sol and hamper any pursuit.

The Chinese authorities reportedly detected the plot during heightened security measures introduced around the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party in Beijing, which ran for seven days from October 18.