VX nerve agent found on Kim Jong Nam: Malaysia police

KUALA LUMPUR —  Malaysian police said Friday (Feb 24) that the half brother of North Korea's leader who was killed in a Kuala Lumpur airport more than a week ago had a nerve agent on his eye and his face.
 
A statement Friday from the inspector general of police said that a preliminary analysis from the Chemistry Department of Malaysia identified the agent as "VX nerve agent".

According to an agency source, the Malaysian police had seized an undisclosed number of chemicals from a condominium in Jalan Klang Lama in the country on Wednesday. The Star newspaper reported that the authorities had also arrested a Malaysian man suspected to be involved in the alleged assassination, as well as recovered chemistry equipment and protective gear from the condominium.

“Police are not ruling out the possibility that the Malaysian man might have expertise in chemistry,” a source was quoted as saying.

Kim Jong Nam, the half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, died Feb 13 shortly after two women put a substance on his face while he was checking in for a flight. 

One of two women suspected of killing the half-brother of North Korea's leader with the highly toxic VX nerve agent also suffered its effects, Malaysia's police chief said.

"She was vomiting," Mr Khalid Abu Bakar said in response to a question about whether the women felt the effects of VX, classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations. He declined to elaborate.

Police had said earlier that the two attackers rubbed a liquid on Kim Jong Nam's face before walking away and quickly washing their hands. He sought help from airport staff but died before he reached the hospital.  
 

Mr Bruce Goldberger, a leading toxicologist who heads the forensic medicine division at the University of Florida, said some protective measures must have been in place if the women handled the substance without gloves. 
 
"It's also possible that the toxin was encapsulated, then activated when applied to the skin," he said before the latest police statement. "As additional information is provided to the media by the police, it seems more likely that a new or modified chemical or biological agent was utilized in the attack."
 
Malaysia's police chief said on Thursday that investigators want to question a North Korean embassy official about Kim Jong Nam's death, saying he should cooperate if he has nothing to hide despite having diplomatic immunity.
 
Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said police have also asked Interpol to issue an alert for four North Korean men who left Malaysia the same day Kim Jong Nam was attacked by the two women.
 
The four men are believed to be back in North Korea, but police also want to question three other people still in Malaysia, including Mr Hyon Kwang Song, a second secretary at the North Korean Embassy.
 
"The foreign officer has got immunity so we have to follow protocol," Mr Khalid told reporters. "If you have nothing to hide, you don't have to be afraid. You should cooperate."
 
Mr Khalid acknowledged that Malaysia would not be able to question Mr Hyon if the embassy exercises its immunity privileges. 
 
North Korea's official, state-controlled media mentioned the case for the first time Thursday, saying Malaysia's investigation was full of "holes and contradictions" without acknowledging the victim was Kim Jong Nam.
 
The report from KCNA largely echoed past comments by North Korea's ambassador to Malaysia, but the publication of at least some news inside North Korea could be a sign of its concern over growing international speculation that Pyongyang dispatched a hit squad to kill Kim Jong Nam. 
 
Long estranged from North Korea's leadership, Kim Jong Nam had lived outside the country for years, staying in Macau, Singapore and Malaysia.
 
The two suspected attackers, and Indonesian woman and a Vietnamese woman, are in custody. MALAY MAIL ONLINE, AP