(BBC)<\/p>\n
US and South Korean agents are plotting to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, North Korean state media report.<\/p>\n
A statement by the ministry of state security said a “terrorist group” backed by the CIA and South Korea’s intelligence agency had entered the country in order to prepare an attack with a bio-chemical substance.<\/p>\n
It said North Korea would find and “mercilessly destroy” the terrorists.<\/p>\n
The claims come amid high tensions in the region.<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump has promised to “solve” North Korea and stop it developing nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n
The statement, carried by North Korean news agency KCNA, said the CIA and South Korean intelligence services had “hatched a vicious plot to hurt the supreme leadership of the DPRK”.<\/p>\n
It did not mention Kim Jong-un by name, but he is widely referred to as the Supreme Leader.<\/p>\n
The plot included the use of “biochemical substances including radioactive substance and nano poisonous substance” whose results would “appear after six or twelve months”, the statement said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The ministry alleges that a North Korean, which it identifies only by the surname “Kim”, had been “corrupted and bribed” by South Korean intelligence services while he was working in Russia.<\/p>\n
It lists several alleged payments made to him, amounting in total to nearly $300,000, and says on his return to Pyongyang he was instructed to provide detailed information about a frequently used event ground and to assess possible methods of attack.<\/p>\n
The statement said an “anti-terrorist” attack would be “commenced from this moment,” but gave no further details.<\/p>\n
The KCNA news agency frequently carries bellicose rhetoric and threats against the US and South Korea,<\/p>\n
A war of words between the West and nuclear-armed North Korea has escalated in recent weeks, with Pyongyang threatening to carry out a sixth nuclear test.<\/p>\n
On Saturday North Korea conducted its second failed ballistic missile test in two weeks.<\/p>\n
The US has sent a warship to the region and installed a controversial anti-missile defence system in South Korea.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington was preparing further sanctions for use “if it turns out North Korea’s actions warrant additional sanctions”, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
He also threatened secondary sanctions on companies doing illicit business with North Korea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(BBC) US and South Korean agents are plotting to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, North Korean state media report. A statement by the ministry of state security said a “terrorist group” backed by the CIA and South Korea’s intelligence agency had entered the country in order to prepare an attack with a bio-chemical substance. It said North Korea would… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":629,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627\/revisions\/629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/eastasiaandoceaniablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}