North Korea has accused US and South Korean agents of plotting to kill its Supreme Leader, Kim Jong-un.
A North Korean referred to only as “Kim” was paid to carry out an attack with biochemical substances, the ministry of state security said.
The plot was foiled, it said, but gave no details on the fate of “Kim”. The CIA declined to comment and South Korea has issued no statement so far.
The North’s claim comes amid continued high tension on the Korean peninsula.
US President Donald Trump has promised to “solve” North Korea and stop it developing nuclear weapons.
The ministry of state security statement, carried by state news agency KCNA, said the CIA and South Korean intelligence services had “hatched a vicious plot to hurt the supreme leadership of the DPRK”.
It did not mention Kim Jong-un by name, but he is widely referred to as the supreme leader.
Analysts say such an assassination operation would be extremely difficult to plan and carry out given the massive security around the supreme leader.
The ministry statement gave no details of how the alleged plan had been uncovered or about the fate of “Kim”, whom it described as “human scum”.
The ministry said the “intelligence and plot-breeding organisations of the US imperialists and the puppet clique”, referring to the South, would be swept away.
Source Bbc.com