Malaysian police have said the substance used in the killing of Kim Jong-nam was a “VX nerve agent”, a highly toxic liquid used only in chemical warfare.

Khalid Abu Bakar, Malaysia’s inspector general, later added that one of the two women suspected of involvement in the poisoning also suffered its effects. “She was vomiting,” he said without elaborating.

The findings follow a preliminary analysis of swabs taken of the face and eyes of the victim, who is the half-brother of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. More items linked to the attack at Kuala Lumpur airport are still being analysed and the terminal will be decontaminated, said police.

What is the VX nerve agent that killed North Korean Kim Jong-nam?
 Read more
The substance VX – also known as ethyl N-2-Diisopropylaminoethyl Methylphosphonothiolate – is classified by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction.

Kim Jong-nam died on 13 February from a seizure on his way to hospital after complaining that a woman had sprayed chemicals on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport. Leaked CCTV footage show a woman grabbing his face. Malaysian police had said earlier two attackers rubbed a liquid on him before walking away and quickly washing their hands.

Asked about the possibility that North Korean agents might have imported the world’s most toxic nerve agent and deployed it in an international airport, a source close to the Malaysia government commented: “Not very diplomatic”.

Khalid said authorities were determining how VX entered the country and that the terminal where Kim Jong-nam was killed, in a budget airline departure lounge, will be decontaminated. As a weapon, VX does not quickly dissipate and can remain on material or the ground for long periods.

An employee at Malaysia Airports Holdings, the company that manages the airport, told the Guardian it had not closed the terminal or been contacted by police about a decontamination since the attack 11 days ago.

Advertisement

China, which afforded a level of protection to Kim Jong-nam during his stays there and in Macau, has yet to comment on the finding.

The US government’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes VX as the most potent of all nerve agents and one that would be lethal on contact with the skin unless immediately washed off. Its only known use is in chemical warfare, it says.

The agency says exposure to a large dose of VX may result in convulsions, loss of consciousness, paralysis and fatal respiratory failure. Kim Jong-nam is reported to have complained of pain in his face shortly after the attack. A leaked photo at the medical centre shows him laid back on a chair with his eyes closed.

VX is a clear, colourless liquid with the consistency of engine oil. A fraction of a drop, absorbed through the skin, is enough to fatally disrupt the nervous system, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. It was developed in the 1950s in the UK during research into pesticides but was later found to be too toxic to be used safely.

Saddam Hussein was accused of using VX during the Iran-Iraq War and there are concerns that stockpiles also exist in Syria. Only the US and Russia have said they possess VX or a similar agent.

Analysis North Korea's use of nerve agent in murder sends a deliberate signal to foes
Kim Jong-un’s regime claims not to possess any chemical weapons, but the use of VX nerve agent to kill Kim Jong-nam could be designed to deter defectors
 Read more
North Korea is thought to have among the world’s largest stockpiles of chemical weapons, and is one of six countries not to have signed or acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), according to the US non-profit organisation the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Defectors have accused North Korea of testing its chemical agents on people.

Raymond Zilinskas, who directs the chemical and biological nonproliferation program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California, said it seemed unlikely the killers applied VX directly.

“Even if they or her were wearing gloves, the fumes would have killed them,” he said. He suggested the assassins might have used a “binary concoction”, smearing two non-fatal elements of VX which mix on the victim’s face.

He added that because North Korea does not belong to the Chemical Weapons Convention, Malaysia might ask the UN secretary general to investigate. “Whether North Korea would allow UN inspectors to enter the country is of course a big question. But the matter certainly could be taken up by UN security council and/or general assembly,” he said.

source: AFP