The women accused of the murder of Kim Jong-nam apologised to him after smearing on him what authorities said was the poison which killed him, said one of the accused's lawyer. 

Gooi Soon Seng, who represents Indonesian suspect Siti Aisyah, said the duo maintain they thought it was just another of the many pranks they pulled on unsuspecting mall patrons before that, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

The Vietnamese suspect Doan Thi Huong, said she was at the airport with Ri Ji Hyon, the son of a former North Korean ambassador to Vietnam, while Siti Aisyah was there with Hong Sac Hong, a former North Korean diplomat in Jakarta who told her he was Chinese. 

Siti Aisyah said she had before that dealt with one Ri Ji U, who claimed to be Japanese and paid her around US$100 every time she pulled pranks on strangers at public places by placing liquid like oil and Tabasco sauce on their faces, according to her lawyer.

The target of the pranks were "men whom she describes as Chinese-looking", the daily reported Gooi as saying.

Siti Aisyah also travelled to Cambodia on Ri Ji U's invitation where she met with Hong, WSJ reported. The other suspect also traveled to Cambodia before the attack.

CCTV recording leaked to media of the alleged murder at KLIA2 showed two women approaching Jong-nam from different directions and swiftly walking away after one of the women placed something on Kim's face.

Police said the woman, who sported a short hair-do and wore a white top with the letters 'LOL' across her chest, was Doan.

Police said the nerve agent VX was placed on Jong-nam's face using bare hands.

Jong-nam was then recorded seeking assistance from auxiliary police who took him to the airport clinic. He died in an ambulance en route to hospital.

Pyongyang consistently denied involvement and said the man - a North Korean who was not Jong-nam - died from a heart attack.

However, Malaysian authorities said Jong-nam's identity was confirmed through a DNA test using a sample from his son.