North Korean killed with chemical weapon in Malaysia, police say

A nerve agent known as VX was used to kill Kim Jong Nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s estranged half-brother, in Malaysia on Feb. 13, Malaysian police said on Friday. Kim Jong Nam was allegedly poisoned by two women who wiped the highly toxic chemical agent on his face at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport […]

A nerve agent known as VX was used to kill Kim Jong Nam, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s estranged half-brother, in Malaysia on Feb. 13, Malaysian police said on Friday.

Kim Jong Nam was allegedly poisoned by two women who wiped the highly toxic chemical agent on his face at Kuala Lumpur’s international airport on February 13, Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said.

The presence of the “VX” agent, which is classified as a chemical weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations, was found in swabs taken from Kim’s eyes and face.

A Vietnamese woman and an Indonesian woman, along with a North Korean man, have been arrested over the killing.

One of the women was sickened by the toxic substance following the attack and vomited, the police chief said.

Asked by local media whether people should avoid visiting the airport, Khalid said, “I don’t know, I’m not the expert.

“We will get the experts to go to the location and to sweep it and see whether anything radioactive is still there.”

The substance is “definitely illicit here,” he added, saying that police were investigating how it was obtained.

The substance is technically known as ethyl “S-2-diisopropylaminoethyl methylphosphonothiolate”, a police statement said.

It is listed as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Convention Act 2005 and Chemical Weapons Convention 1997.

Malaysian police are searching for seven more North Koreans believed to be linked to the attack, including a diplomat in the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur and an airline worker with Air Koryo, the state-owned national flag carrier airline of North Korea.

On Thursday police asked Interpol to issue an alert for four North Koreans who fled Malaysia on the day of Kim’s murder.(dpa/NAN)