A Malaysian court on Thursday ordered two women accused of murdering Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korea's leader, to defend themselves against what the judge said was a "well-planned conspiracy" hatched with four North Korean suspects still at large.

Shah Alam High Court judge Azmi Ariffin fixed 19 days from Nov. 1 through next Feb. 20 to hear testimony from Siti Aisyah, 26, from Indonesia, and Doan Thi Huong, 30, from Vietnam, who are jointly being tried for the murder at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13 last year.

The United States and South Korea believe that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the killing of his older half brother to prevent a challenge to his rule.

In a decision that took two and half hours to read, Azmi said the prosecution has established a prima facie case -- meaning the evidence is sufficient to enable a verdict unless it is rebutted -- against the defendants, and the court must therefore call on them to mount a defense.

Azmi reached that decision after evaluating the testimony of 34 prosecution witnesses and airport security camera footage showing the act and movements of the accused and North Koreans suspected of involvement.

"Taking the evidence cumulatively, I am of the firm view that the accused persons were the perpetrators leading to the death of Kim Chol," Azmi said, referring to the name in the passport found on Kim Jong Nam.

He inferred "intention" and "knowledge" based on the conduct and facial expression of the women after the "attack" on Kim where they "desperately and hurriedly" headed to the toilet.

"There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that it can be inferred that their desperate act of rushing into the toilet was solely for the purpose of decontaminating the poisonous VX on their hands. This further establishes the intention to cause death," he said.

The women are charged with having "common intention" with four North Korean men in murdering Kim at the airport. The four men -- Ri Ji Hyon, Ri Jae Nam, Hong Song Hac and O Jong Gil -- fled Malaysia within hours of the murder and are believed to have returned to North Korea.

In the trial that began last October, the women have pleaded not guilty, with their defense contending that they did not know the substance they smeared on Kim's face was a deadly chemical agent.

The defense has argued that Kim's murder with the banned nerve agent VX was a conspiracy hatched by North Korean agents, and that the women were mere scapegoats who thought they were hired to take part in prank videos.

However, Azmi said he was "not persuaded" by this "prank" argument as videos produced in court by the defense of "pranks" performed by Huong in Vietnam prior to the murder did not fit his definition of something done mischievously and for fun.

He agreed, however, that the four North Koreans played a "substantial role" in the plot.

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"I can't rule out that this could be a political assassination. Despite that, I am still unable to confirm this fact even though the evidence produced by the prosecution in the form of the CCTV footages showed the meticulous planning undertaken by the four North Koreans," Azmi said.

The defendants, via an interpreter, told the court that they intend to testify under oath from the witness stand.

Aisyah later broke down and was consoled by the Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia, Rusdi Kirana, who was in court.

Kirana expressed "shock" at the ruling but told reporters his government will abide by it.

Prior to his murder, Kim Jong Nam had voiced fear for his safety. It has been reported that there were earlier unsuccessful attempts on his life in Macau, where he had been living in self-imposed exile.