In a potential sign of escalating tensions, North Korea has accused the United States and South Korea of having conspired to assassinate its leader, Kim Jong-un, with “biochemical agents.” The accusation was made Friday by North Korea’s Ministry of State Security in a lengthy statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency. It says the “recently uncovered” plot was hatched in 2014 by the CIA and South Korea’s National Intelligence Agency—”hotbed of evils in the world“—who had bribed and “ideologically corrupted” a North Korean citizen.