North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s estranged half brother was killed with
a highly toxic chemical weapon known as VX, Malaysian police announced
Friday, offering evidence that might unravel the mystery surrounding the
death of Kim Jong-nam.
Citing preliminary analysis from the
nation’s Chemistry Department, Malaysia’s police chief said the nerve
agent was detected on the eyes and face of Kim Jong-nam, who died last
week after being attacked by two women who approached him from behind
and wiped his face with an unverified substance.
Deadly even in
minute amounts, VX has been classified by the United Nations as a weapon
of mass destruction. The substance is banned under the Chemical Weapons
Conventions of 1997 and 2005, to which North Korea is not a party.The
two attackers rubbed a liquid on Kim Jong Nam‘s face before walking away
and quickly washing their hands, police had said earlier.
“Our
preliminary finding of the chemical that caused the death of Kim Chol
was VX nerve (agent),” Malaysia‘s Police Inspector General Khalid Abu
Bakar said in a written statement, referring to the victim as “Kim
Chol,” the name Kim Jong-nam is believed to have used when traveling on a
diplomatic passport.
The revelation that a banned chemical weapon was used in the
high-profile murder case is expected to add speculation that North Korea
might have orchestrated the attack after obtaining the substance
themselves or from another country.
Hong Sae-yong, a prominent
toxicologist in South Korea who works as a professor of nephrology at
Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Seoul, said it is “not difficult”
for North Korea to manufacture or export VX.
“A country with a
certain science level can make the material,” said Hong in an interview
with a local broadcaster, noting that even a religious cult -- such as
Japan’s Aum Shinrikyo -- had manufactured 100 to 200 grams of VX gas
that it used to attack innocent civilians in 1994 and 1995.
http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20170224000653
