A battle between North Korea and Malaysia for the body of Kim Jong-Un&#39;s murdered brother intensified Saturday, as foreign police said one of the suspected killers believed she was taking part in a reality TV prank.

The body of Kim-Jong Nam has been held in a Kuala Lumpur morgue since he was assassinated in a Cold War-style killing at the capital&#39;s international airport on Monday.&nbsp;

Pyongyang accused Malaysia of conspiring with its enemies and said it would reject any results of a post-mortem examination carried out by local police, after Malaysia rejected demands to return the remains.&nbsp;

&quot;The Malaysian side forced the post-mortem without our permission and witnessing. We will categorically reject the result of the post-mortem conducted unilaterally excluding our attendance,&quot; the North Korean ambassador told reporters gathered outside the morgue shortly before midnight on Friday.

The comments were the first official remarks from the country since the killing, but ambassador Kang Chol stopped short of identifying Jong-Nam or touching on his cause of death.&nbsp;

North Korean state media has remained silent on the murder, which Seoul says was carried out by poison-wielding female agents working for Pyongyang.

The ambassador earlier met with Malaysian police, demanding the release of the body without success, according to an English transcript of the envoy&#39;s comments distributed by an aide.

&quot;They are colluding with the hostile forces towards us who are desperate to harm us of malice,&quot; the transcript said, suggesting South Korea was trying to defame the North in a bid to distract from a corruption scandal at home.&nbsp;

On Saturday Malaysia&#39;s police chief said Pyongyang would have to wait for the investigation to be completed, which would include a family member sending a DNA sample to identify the body.

&quot;While in Malaysia, everyone has to obey and follow our rules and regulations... that includes North Korea,&quot; Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar told national news agency Bernama.

A &#39;TV show prank&#39; 
Detectives in Kuala Lumpur have arrested a 25-year-old Indonesian woman named Siti Aishah and her Malaysian boyfriend, along with a woman carrying a Vietnamese passport that identified her as Doan Thi Huong, 28.&nbsp;

Indonesian Police Chief Tito Karnavian said he had information from Malaysia that Aishah was tricked into thinking she was simply taking part in pranks for a TV show like &quot;Just For Laughs&quot;.

&quot;Probably she was just used -- she did not realise it was an assassination attempt,&quot; he was quoted as saying in local media.

He said Aishah was persuaded to carry out similar pranks -- spraying a substance into someone&#39;s eyes -- with another woman on three or four previous occasions in exchange for money.

But on the final occasion, it involved an attack on Kim Jong-Nam with &quot;hazardous materials&quot;, he said.

Aishah&#39;s family in Jakarta expressed shock over her arrest, with her former father-in-law saying there was &quot;no way such a nice person would do that&quot;.

&quot;I could not believe it because she was a good person,&quot; said Tija Liang Kiong, 56.&nbsp;

Vietnam have said they are co-operating with Malaysian authorities.&nbsp;

The drama erupted on Monday morning as Jong-Nam prepared to board a plane to Macau.

Malaysian police say the 45-year-old was jumped by two women who squirted some kind of liquid in his face.

Jong-Nam told staff he was suffering from a headache and was taken to the airport clinic grimacing in pain, according to Malaysian media citing CCTV footage from the airport.

He was once thought to be the natural successor to his father, but on Kim Jong-Il&#39;s death in 2011 the succession went to Kim Jong-Un, who was born to the former leader&#39;s third wife.&nbsp;

Reports of purges and executions have emerged from the current regime as Kim Jong-Un tries to strengthen his grip on power in the face of international pressure over nuclear and missile programmes.&nbsp;

(AFP)

'Probably she was just used -- she did not realise it was an assassination attempt,' he was quoted as saying in local media

A battle between North Korea and Malaysia for the body of Kim Jong-Un's murdered brother intensified Saturday, as foreign police said one of the suspected killers believed she was taking part in a reality TV prank. The body of Kim-Jong Nam has been held in a Kuala Lumpur morgue since he was assassinated in a Cold War-style killing at the capital's international airport on Monday. Pyongyang accused Malaysia of conspiring with its enemies and said it would reject any results of a post-mortem examination carried out by local police, after Malaysia rejected demands to return the remains. "The Malaysian side forced the post-mortem without our permission and witnessing. We will categorically reject the result of the post-mortem conducted unilaterally excluding our attendance," the North Korean ambassador told reporters gathered outside the morgue shortly before midnight on Friday. The comments were the first official remarks from the country since the killing, but ambassador Kang Chol stopped short of identifying Jong-Nam or touching on his cause of death. North Korean state media has remained silent on the murder, which Seoul says was carried out by poison-wielding female agents working for Pyongyang. The ambassador earlier met with Malaysian police, demanding the release of the body without success, according to an English transcript of the envoy's comments distributed by an aide. "They are colluding with the hostile forces towards us who are desperate to harm us of malice," the transcript said, suggesting South Korea was trying to defame the North in a bid to distract from a corruption scandal at home. On Saturday Malaysia's police chief said Pyongyang would have to wait for the investigation to be completed, which would include a family member sending a DNA sample to identify the body. "While in Malaysia, everyone has to obey and follow our rules and regulations... that includes North Korea," Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar told national news agency Bernama. A 'TV show prank' Detectives in Kuala Lumpur have arrested a 25-year-old Indonesian woman named Siti Aishah and her Malaysian boyfriend, along with a woman carrying a Vietnamese passport that identified her as Doan Thi Huong, 28. Indonesian Police Chief Tito Karnavian said he had information from Malaysia that Aishah was tricked into thinking she was simply taking part in pranks for a TV show like "Just For Laughs". "Probably she was just used -- she did not realise it was an assassination attempt," he was quoted as saying in local media. He said Aishah was persuaded to carry out similar pranks -- spraying a substance into someone's eyes -- with another woman on three or four previous occasions in exchange for money. But on the final occasion, it involved an attack on Kim Jong-Nam with "hazardous materials", he said. Aishah's family in Jakarta expressed shock over her arrest, with her former father-in-law saying there was "no way such a nice person would do that". "I could not believe it because she was a good person," said Tija Liang Kiong, 56. Vietnam have said they are co-operating with Malaysian authorities. The drama erupted on Monday morning as Jong-Nam prepared to board a plane to Macau. Malaysian police say the 45-year-old was jumped by two women who squirted some kind of liquid in his face. Jong-Nam told staff he was suffering from a headache and was taken to the airport clinic grimacing in pain, according to Malaysian media citing CCTV footage from the airport. He was once thought to be the natural successor to his father, but on Kim Jong-Il's death in 2011 the succession went to Kim Jong-Un, who was born to the former leader's third wife. Reports of purges and executions have emerged from the current regime as Kim Jong-Un tries to strengthen his grip on power in the face of international pressure over nuclear and missile programmes. (AFP)

Indonesia police chief: One of Kim's killers thought she was in TV prank

The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, who has been murdered in Malaysia, pleaded for his life to be spared after a failed assassination bid in 2012, lawmakers briefed by Seoul&#39;s spy chief said Wednesday.&nbsp;

Kim Jong-Nam died after reportedly being attacked by two women believed to be North Korean agents at a Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday.

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Jong-Nam, the eldest son of the late former leader Kim Jong-Il, was once seen as heir apparent but fell out of favour following an embarrassing botched bid in 2001 to enter Japan on a forged passport and visit Disneyland.&nbsp;

He has since lived in virtual exile, mainly in the Chinese territory of Macau, while Jong-Un took over the isolated, nuclear-armed state after the death of his father in December 2011.

The North in 2012 tried to assassinate Jong-Nam -- known to be a supporter of reform in Pyongyang -- Seoul lawmakers said following a closed-door briefing by the chief of the National Intelligence Service, Lee Byung-Ho.&nbsp;

&quot;According to (Lee)... there was one (assassination) bid in 2012, and Jong-Nam in April 2012 sent a letter to Jong-Un saying &#39;Please spare me and my family,&#39;&quot; Kim Byung-Kee, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters.&nbsp;

&quot;It also said &#39;We have nowhere to go... we know that the only way to escape is suicide&#39;,&quot; he said, adding Jong-Nam had little political support at home and posed little threat to Jong-Un. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Jong-Nam&#39;s family -- his former and current wives and three children -- are currently living in Beijing and Macau, said another committee member, Lee Cheol-Woo.&nbsp;

&quot;They are under the protection by the Chinese authorities,&quot; he said, adding Jong-Nam had entered Malaysia on February 6, a week before his death.&nbsp;

Jong-Nam&#39;s murder is the highest-profile death under the Kim Jong-Un&#39;s regime since the execution of the leader&#39;s uncle, Jang Song-Thaek, in December 2013.&nbsp;

Jang, known to be close to China and an advocate of economic reform in the North, was charged with treason.&nbsp;

Jong-Nam, believed to have ties with Beijing&#39;s elite, was a relatively outspoken figure, publicly criticising Pyongyang&#39;s political system.

The 45-year-old said he &quot;personally opposed&quot; the hereditary power transfer in his own family, during an interview with Japan&#39;s Asahi TV in 2010.&nbsp;

One of his sons -- Han-Sol -- also described his uncle, Jong-Un, as a &quot;dictator&quot; in a rare interview with a Finnish TV station in 2012 while he was studying in Europe.&nbsp;

(AFP)

They said he pleaded for his life to be spared after a failed assassination bid in 2012

The half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, who has been murdered in Malaysia, pleaded for his life to be spared after a failed assassination bid in 2012, lawmakers briefed by Seoul's spy chief said Wednesday. Kim Jong-Nam died after reportedly being attacked by two women believed to be North Korean agents at a Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday. Kim Jong-Nam died after reportedly being attacked by two women believed to be North Korean agents at a Kuala Lumpur airport on Monday × Jong-Nam, the eldest son of the late former leader Kim Jong-Il, was once seen as heir apparent but fell out of favour following an embarrassing botched bid in 2001 to enter Japan on a forged passport and visit Disneyland. He has since lived in virtual exile, mainly in the Chinese territory of Macau, while Jong-Un took over the isolated, nuclear-armed state after the death of his father in December 2011. The North in 2012 tried to assassinate Jong-Nam -- known to be a supporter of reform in Pyongyang -- Seoul lawmakers said following a closed-door briefing by the chief of the National Intelligence Service, Lee Byung-Ho. "According to (Lee)... there was one (assassination) bid in 2012, and Jong-Nam in April 2012 sent a letter to Jong-Un saying 'Please spare me and my family,'" Kim Byung-Kee, a member of the parliamentary intelligence committee, told reporters. "It also said 'We have nowhere to go... we know that the only way to escape is suicide'," he said, adding Jong-Nam had little political support at home and posed little threat to Jong-Un. Jong-Nam's family -- his former and current wives and three children -- are currently living in Beijing and Macau, said another committee member, Lee Cheol-Woo. "They are under the protection by the Chinese authorities," he said, adding Jong-Nam had entered Malaysia on February 6, a week before his death. Jong-Nam's murder is the highest-profile death under the Kim Jong-Un's regime since the execution of the leader's uncle, Jang Song-Thaek, in December 2013. Jang, known to be close to China and an advocate of economic reform in the North, was charged with treason. Jong-Nam, believed to have ties with Beijing's elite, was a relatively outspoken figure, publicly criticising Pyongyang's political system. The 45-year-old said he "personally opposed" the hereditary power transfer in his own family, during an interview with Japan's Asahi TV in 2010. One of his sons -- Han-Sol -- also described his uncle, Jong-Un, as a "dictator" in a rare interview with a Finnish TV station in 2012 while he was studying in Europe. (AFP)

Kim half-brother pleaded for his life: Seoul MPs

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Indonesia police chief: One of Kim's killers thought she was in TV prank

Kim half-brother pleaded for his life: Seoul MPs