North Korea has accused the USA and South Korean spy agencies of an unsuccessful assassination attempt on leader Kim Jong Un involving bio-chemical weapons.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said this week that Washington was working on more sanctions against North Korea, if it takes steps that merit a new response.
In an announcement published by the country's state media, the country's security ministry said: 'We will ferret out and mercilessly destroy to the last one the terrorists of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.
The rogue regime threatened to launch a "counter-terrorist attack" against American and South Korean forces in retaliation for the alleged biochemical plot, according to Yonhap News of South Korea, the Telegraph of the United Kingdom reported.
The latest allegations were reported by AFP news agency amid heightened tensions over a series of weapons tests carried out by the totalitarian state.
The ministry demanded that the United States and South Korea apologize and execute the intelligence agents involved in the "heinous" plot.
Neither South Korea or the Central Intelligence Agency has yet responded to the accusation, which comes as tensions on the Korean peninsula reach boiling point, with Kim Jong-un reported to be on the verge of launching military strikes against South Korea.
The Supreme Leader would have been targeted at a military parade and public procession, with the results not be visible for six to 12 months afterwards, it said.
A turncoat assassin sent to North Korea armed with "nano poison" to kill leader Kim Jong Un?
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At a minimum, the United States could push China to agree to condemn North Korea's missile launches in a resolution, instead of a statement, which may also blacklist more people and entities tied to the country's ballistic missile program.
The US has been performing the annual Foal Eagle military drills with South Korea, imposed sanctions on North Korea and has deployed The Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system, created to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles fired at South Korea.
Asked about the KCNA commentary during a regular briefing Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Beijing's position on "developing good neighborly and friendly cooperation with North Korea is also consistent and clear".
After 13 North Korean workers from a restaurant in China defected to South Korea in April a year ago, North Korea said they were kidnapped by South Korean spies.
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.
"Rebuilding mutual trust between South Korea and the U.S.as allies should first be rushed through diplomacy between the top leaders, and South Korea should also waste no time in joining the cockpit of North Korean policy making now dominated by the USA and China", he noted.
A war of words between the West and Pyongyang has escalated in recent weeks, with North Korea threatening to carry out a sixth nuclear test.
North Korea has stationed multiple rocket launchers and artillery units on the two islands, where a shelling and rocket attack was launched on South Korea's Yeongpyeong Island in 2010.
The Soviet Union and China have denied supplying North Korea with nuclear weapons, or help them building them.
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