An Indonesian woman accused of killing the estranged half brother of North Korea's leader was paid for acting in prank shows at the airport, hotels and shopping malls just weeks earlier, a defence lawyer told the court on Friday.

Siti Aisyah was on trial with Doan Thi Huong from Vietnam on the charge of murdering Kim Jong Nam by smearing his face with the banned VX nerve agent at the Kuala Lumpur airport on February 13 last year.

The two were the only suspects in custody, though prosecutors said four North Koreans who fled the country were also involved.

The court heard last week that Aisyah was recruited on Jan. 5 last year to act in what she thought was a Japanese video prank show by Ri Ji U, a North Korean posing as a Japanese man named James.

Aisyah's lawyer, Gooi Soon Seng, said on Friday that she then played a series of pranks in several locations in January 2017, including some at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on January 6, for which she was paid 600 ringgit (152 US dollars).

Gooi told reporters later that Aisyah's mobile text messages and calls made to James showed it was consistent with the women's contention that they were duped by suspected North Korean agents into believing they were playing harmless pranks for a hidden TV show and didn't know they were poisoning Kim.

The two women face the death penalty if convicted, but not if they lacked intent to kill.

Prosecutors contended the women knew they were handling poison.

Kim, the eldest son in the family that ruled North Korea since its founding, had been living abroad for years after falling out of favour.

It was thought he could have been seen as a threat to the rule of his half brother, Kim Jong Un.

Malaysian officials never officially accused North Korea of involvement in Kim's death, making it clear they don't want the trial politicised.