Kim brother killed by WMD
Malaysia says illegal toxin VX was used on North Korean leader’s sibling
KUALA LUMPUR // North Korean leader Kim Jong- un’s half brother was assassinated with a lethal nerve agent manufactured for chemical warfare, Malaysian police said yesterday.
They said the poison used by the assassins was the odourless and highly- toxic VX, which is listed by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction. The news brought condemnation from South Korea, which said the use of a nerve agent was a breach of the Chemical Weapons Convention and other international norms.
Experts in the South claimed yesterday that North Korea had up to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons stockpiled, including VX. Kim Jong- nam died on February 13 after being attacked at Kuala Lumpur International Airport by two women, who could be seen on CCTV footage pushing something into his face. He suffered a seizure and was declared dead before he reached hospital.
An autopsy revealed traces of VX – a fast-acting toxin that sparks respiratory collapse and heart failure – on the victim’s face and in his eyes.
Tiny amounts of the poison are enough to kill an adult, whether inhaled or absorbed through the skin.
“I am outraged that the criminals used such a dangerous chemical in a public area,” said Malaysian environment minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.
“It could have caused mass injuries or even death to other people.” One of the two women arrested after the attack vomited in custody.
The country’s national police chief, Khalid Abu Bakar, said the woman who attacked Kim from behind clearly knew she was carrying out a poison attack, dismissing claims that she thought she was taking part in a TV prank.
Mr Khalid said after the attack the woman quickly moved towards the public restrooms.
“She was very aware that it was toxic and that she needed to wash her hands.”
He said yesterday that experts would sweep the airport terminal where the attack took place for traces of the toxin.
“We are investigating how the lethal substance entered the country.”
But Mr Khalid also said small traces of the chemical would be difficult to detect.
A leading regional security expert said it would not have been difficult to get VX into the country in a diplomatic pouch, which is not subject to regular customs checks. North Korea has used the pouches “to smuggle items, including contraband and items that would be subjected to scrutiny if regular travel channels were used”, said Rohan Gunaratna, head of the Singapore International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research.
Detectives are holding three people but want to speak to seven other suspects, four of whom are believed to have fled to Pyongyang.
One man wanted for questioning is senior North Korean embassy official Hyon Kwang-song.
Police said diplomatic immunity prevents them from questioning him unless he volun- teers. North Korea has blasted the investigation. Its ambassador, Kang Chol, said Pyongyang could not trust Malaysian police to carry out an impartial investigation. He was then warned to keep quiet or face the prospect of being kicked out of the country. “The ambassador has been informed of the process but he continues to spew lies and accusations against the government of Malaysia,” said foreign minister Anifah Aman.
The only known function of VX is as a chemical warfare agent, and the US government’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention describes it as the “most potent” of all nerve agents. VX was used by Japan’s Aum cult in the 1994 murder of an office worker in Osaka and in the attempted murder of two others.