United Nations: North Korean ambassador to the United Nations, Kim In Ryong, has denied that the man killed in Malaysia was Kim Jong Nam, estranged half-brother of the country`s leader Kim Jong Un, saying the United States and South Korea are to be blamed for tarnishing the country`s image in relation to the case.


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According to Xinhua news agency, the ambassador told reporters yesterday that the assassination case "is the product of reckless moves of the United States and South Korean authorities aimed to ... tarnish the image of the dignified DPRK and to bring down the Socialist system.


"Kim spoke in response to a question on the assassination during a news conference he had called to condemn a recent UN Security Council statement denouncing recent ballistic missile launches by North Korea as a threat to international peace and security.


The envoy, however, acknowledged that the victim, who was poisoned to death in Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13 by two assailants, was a citizen from North Korea with a diplomatic passport.


"The United States and the South Korean authority are groundlessly blaming the DPRK, asserting that he was intoxicated by a highly poisonous VX nerve substance," Kim said.


He said Washington wanted to "store up international repugnancy towards the DPRK ... to provoke nuclear war against the DPRK at any cost.


"He also raised the question as to where the assailants were able to obtain such a banned chemical weapon as VX, pointing out the United States has "a stockpile" of such outlawed weapons.