Seoul, Sep 13 (IANS): The US Department of Justice has filed a criminal complaint against a North Korean man suspected of killing Pyongyang leader Kim Jong-un's half brother on charges of violating sanctions placed on the communist regime.

The Department on Friday announced the complaint charging Ri Jong-chol and two others with "conspiracy to violate North Korean Sanctions Regulations and bank fraud, and conspiracy to launder funds", the Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported on Saturday.

Ri is suspected of murdering Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of the North Korean leader, in 2017 in Malaysia.

Ri was taken into custody but was later released due to lack of evidence.

The FBI's Minneapolis field office is investigating the case, the Department added.

Kim Jong-nam was killed in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia in February 2017, when two women smeared his face with the VX nerve agent.

Kim Jong-nam was Kim Jong-il's eldest son, and for a while, it appeared he was being groomed to succeed him.

But he fell from favour in the early 2000s.