He and six fellow intruders, armed with knives, iron bars, machetes and fake pistols, stormed the embassy, restrained and physically beat the charge d’affaires and other employees and held them captive for several hours before fleeing, according to the warrant.

They got away with computer equipment and a mobile phone stolen from the embassy, which Hong presented days later to the FBI in New York after fleeing back to the United States, the warrant says.

A Spanish judicial course said earlier this week that the FBI later handed the material over to Spanish authorities who have since returned it to Pyongyang’s mission in Madrid.

The incident at the embassy came at a sensitive time, just days ahead of a second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that abruptly collapsed without the two men reaching a deal on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.

North Korea’s foreign ministry denounced the incident as a “grave terrorist attack” and cited rumours that the FBI was partially behind the raid. The US State Department has said Washington had nothing to do with it.

Spain is seeking Hong’s extradition to face charges of breaking and entering, illegal restraint, robbery, causing injuries and being a member of a criminal organisation.

Hong, a Mexican citizen who holds permanent US residency, was an activist who co-founded the charity human rights group Liberty in North Korea but later left that organisation.

His lawyer, Lee Wolosky, who also represents Free Joseon, accused US authorities of accepting at face value a false North Korean account of events.

“In due time, we expect to be able to present additional evidence that contradicts the story made up by the North Korean government,” Wolosky said.

The warrant for Hong’s arrest said US authorities had traced his home to a Los Angeles address and believed he remains at large somewhere within the US Central District of California, an area comprising Los Angeles and adjacent counties.