N. Korea: U.S., S. Korea tried to kill Kim

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea on Friday accused the U.S. and South Korean spy agencies of an unsuccessful assassination attempt on leader Kim Jong Un involving biochemical weapons.

In a statement on state media, North Korea’s Ministry of State Security said it will “ferret out and mercilessly destroy” the “terrorists” in the CIA and South Korean intelligence agency responsible for targeting its leadership.

North Korea frequently calls out the United States and South Korea, but its accusation was unusual in its detail.

The ministry said the spy agencies in June 2014 “ideologically corrupted and bribed” a North Korean citizen working in Russia to carry out the alleged assassination on Kim after returning home.

It said South Korean agents gave money and satellite communication equipment to the North Korean to attack Kim at an event using a biochemical weapon such as a delay edaction radioactive or “nano poisonous” substance.

The ministry said after a series of contacts and payments, the agents told the North Korean last month that the type of biochemical substance would be supplied by the CIA.

The statement, carried by North Korea’s official news agency and read on state TV, didn’t describe how the alleged plot was broken up or give the full name of the North Korean suspect, identifying him only by his surname, Kim.

In Washington, the CIA declined to comment, and officials at South Korea’s National Intelligence Service did not answer repeated phone calls.

The alleged plan to use a biochemical agent on a member of North Korea’s ruling family resembles the assassination earlier this year of Kim Jong Un’s exiled half brother at a Malaysian airport.

GETTY-AFP North Korea says U.S. and South Korean spies planned to use biochemical weapons on its leader, Kim Jong Un.