North Korea accuses the CIA of plotting to assassinate Kim Jong Un

North Korea announced Friday that it believes the CIA and South Korea's intelligence service are conspiring to assassinate leader Kim Jong Un. In a statement released by the ministry of state security via state media, North Korea suggested the U.S. and South Korea had "hatched a vicious plot" involving a "biochemical substances" to take out its "supreme leadership." North Korea assured the CIA that this "pipe dream" would never happen.

The statement arrived amid rising tensions in the region, as the Trump administration warns North Korea about its nuclear weapons program. North Korea said Friday that it views this "plot" of assassination as essentially a "declaration of war." "We will ferret out and mercilessly destroy to the last one the terrorists of the U.S. CIA and the puppet [intelligence service] of South Korea," the statement said, warning this "last-ditch effort" had gone "beyond the limits."

North Korea claimed it uncovered the "plot" after detecting an alleged spy who had been "ideologically corrupted and bribed" by the CIA and South Korea and transformed into a "terrorist full of repugnance and revenge against the supreme leadership" of North Korea. The statement gave no indication of what happened to this supposed spy.