North Korea accuses U.S. of plotting to assassinate president

In a jarring report released Friday by state news outlet Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), North Korea accused the United States and South Korea of attempting to assassinate Kim Jong Un with a biochemical weapon.

The legislation - which needs Senate approval before being sent to President Trump to sign into law - aims to expands sanctions to deter North Korea's nuclear weapons program, targets North Korean shipping and use of worldwide ports, and requires the administration to determine whether North Korea is a state sponsor of terrorism.

A statement by the North Korean Ministry of State Security said that Pyongyang would find and "mercilessly destroy" the terrorists.

"[The intelligence agents] told him that assassination by use of biochemical substances including radioactive substance and nano poisonous substance is the best method that does not require access to the target, their lethal results will appear after six or twelve months", the report said.

This comes as tensions between Pyongyang and the administration of President Donald Trump escalates over United States military build-up on the Korean Peninsula and the North's carrying out nuclear and missile tests. He's talking tough, saying in an interview that the USA and North Korea could be heading toward a "major, major" conflict with North Korea, though adding he prefers a diplomatic solution.

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"The heinous crime, which was recently uncovered and smashed in the DPRK, is a kind of terrorism against not only the DPRK but the justice and conscience of humankind and an act of mangling the future of humankind", it added.

The U.S. military has said Central Intelligence Agency director Mike Pompeo visited South Korea this week and met the NIS chief for discussions.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday that Washington was working on more sanctions against North Korea if it takes steps that merit a new response.

Under former leader Kim Jong Il and now his son Kim Jong Un, North Korea has been doing what it wants to do, all the while promising to do something else.

North Korea alleged a bribe paid to a North Korean citizen was used to train him as a terrorist as well as other "accomplices", The Post reported.

How far China would go in helping change North Korea's behavior is a "litmus test" that will affect the future of the relations between Washington and Beijing, a USA expert said Friday. The Kim regime has been testing ballistic missiles in recent days, while the USA began installing a defense system in South Korea that would ideally destroy missiles launched from the North before they hit their intended target.