VX nerve agent used to kill Kim Jong-nam, police say

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim Jong-nam, the North Korean ruler’s outcast half brother who was poisoned last week at the airport in Kuala Lumpur, police said today.

The substance, deadly even in minute amounts, was detected on Kim’s eyes and face, Malaysia’s inspector general of police said, citing a preliminary analysis from the country’s Chemistry Department.

Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters that one of the two women accused of wiping the toxin on Kim’s face was later sickened and suffered from vomiting.

Police previously said the airport had not been decontaminated. “We are doing it now,” Khalid said.

Speculation has grown that North Korea dispatched a hit squad to Malaysia to kill the exiled older sibling of leader Kim Jongun. North Korea denies this.