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Authorities have confirmed the death of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

He was reportedly assassinated by two women wielding poison needles, who then fled the scene in a taxi.

But Joohee Cho, chief of the ABC News bureau in Seoul, South Korea, said the assassins had died too.

(Image: NEW STRAITS TIMES/GETTY)

Michiyo Ishida of Channel News Asia, citing Japan's Kyodo News, also reported that the killers' bodies were found.

However reports from Chinese newspaper, Oriental Daily, claim one Vietnamese woman has been arrested over the killing.

Police continue to hunt for one female and four male suspects, the same paper claims, citing a senior law enforcement source.

A subsequent police statement confirmed the arrest of a 28-year-old Vietnamese woman at the airport today, identified as Doan Thi Huong.

CCTV has emerged overnight allegedly showing one of the assassins at the scene of the crime, Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.

She has shoulder length hair, is wearing a skirt and light-coloured top with the letters LOL on the front, and is carrying a handbag.

Kim Jong-nam's body has since been transferred to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital and a post-mortem is set to take place today.

A North Korean government car has been seen arriving at the hospital and it's claimed the regime has requested the body.

(Image: REUTERS)

South Korean lawmakers said they expected the victim's body to be sent to his family, in the Chinese city of Macau.

An account of the death from police spokesman, Fadzil Ahmat, suggests that the victim was poisoned with a cloth.

"The deceased felt like someone grabbed or held his face from behind. He felt dizzy," said the officer.

(Image: GETTY)

"So he asked for help at the counter of KLIA. We don't know if there was a cloth or needles."

Kim Jong-nam was due to take a flight to Macau when he was attacked at the airport's low-cost terminal.

He had spent years living in China and it's speculated that Beijing groomed him as a potential successor should Kim Jong-un fall.