North Korea rejected yesterday's allegations by South Korea that it was connected with "the events in Malaysia," China's Xinhua news agency reported.

During the High Level Segment of the Disarmament Conference in Geneva, a North Korean representative said that North Korea totally rejected the remarks of Seoul's Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se, which suggested that Pyongyang used chemical weapons to assassinate in Malaysia the half-brother of its top leader, Xinhua reported.

The North Korean diplomat denounced the remarks as "part of a sinister defamation campaign," Xinhua said.

"We categorically reject the assumptions and speculations on the incident in Malaysia," the news ageancy quoted him as saying.

Yun said earlier during the meeting that the assassination of "the brother" of the current North Korean leader in Malaysia with the internationally banned VX nerve agent was a major cause of concern.

"VX is a chemical weapon classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations and strictly banned by international norms and resolutions," said the South Korean top diplomat, adding that the "recent assassination" showed that its northern neighbour was ready and willing to strike anyone, anytime and anywhere.

Once the Malaysian government releases its final investigation results, the case should be taken up as a high priority by the UN Security Council and the Chemical Weapons Convention and the country's membership at the United Nations could be suspended, Yun said.

In response, the North Korean representative said that the South Korean minister ought to be careful about when and where to raise the issue of membership of countries in various United Nations bodies.

"They should bear in mind that their ridiculous efforts of blaming other member states would end up in failure," the North Korean PRK diplomat added.

Malaysian police claim that chemical weapon substance had been identified on the body of a North Korean man who died on his way from a Malaysian airport to hospital on Feb 13.

Malaysian officials said embassy documents showed the man was Kim Jong-nam, half-brother of the North Korean top leader Kim Jong-un. The North Korean ambassador in Malaysia rejected such allegations.

- Bernama