North Korea has accused South Korea of orchestrating a plot to track and harm North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il.
A
statement from the North's Ministry of State Security carried by the
nation's official media Thursday says that a man with the surname Ri
has been arrested in connection with the alleged plot.
It says a
South Korean intelligence agency trained Ri and, in a direct quote,
provided "speech and acoustic sensing and pursuit devices for tracking
the movement of the top leader."
North Korea says it was a "terrorist mission" with the purpose of harming Mr. Kim.
South Korean officials did not immediately respond to the allegation.
Mr.
Kim's last confirmed public appearance was in August. Pyongyang has
offered no explanation for the leader's apparent absence from important
state ceremonies.
South Korean and U.S. officials say Mr. Kim suffered a stroke in August, but North Korea has denied that assertion.
Some information for this report was provided by AFPand AP.
