The half-brother to North Korea’s leader – Kim Jong-nam- was assassinated using a toxic substance, the extraordinary VX nerve agent, Malaysian officials report.
According to the inspector general, Khalid Abu Bakar, one of the arrested women was still suffering from the effects of the toxic substance. The VX is only used in chemical warfare.
These findings have been arrived at after a week of detailed analysis of the face and eyes samples from the deceased. The police said that they are still ongoing with the analysis, reports The Guardian.
The VX nerve agent
VX is also referred to as O-ethyl S-diisopropylaminomethyl methylphosphonothiolate. The United Nations classifies it as a weapon of mass destruction.
The amber-coloured, oily liquid penetrates the skin to interfere with the nervous system. Having a single drop of it on one’s skin can lead to death within minutes. If one consumes it, the immediate effects include blurred vision, eye pain, vomiting and drowsiness.
Some of the ways of disseminating the include spraying – both on the target or on a substance to be consumed.
VX can be absorbed into the body by inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, or eye contact
This dangerous chemical was banned from usage in 1933.
Mr Kim was poisoned at an airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 45-year old was waiting for a flight to Macau, where he had run for fear of his life. One arrest was made after the alleged assassination and now a second woman has been arrested concerning the same death.
How the Assassination unfolded
A dark-haired young woman has been blamed for having carried out the assassination.
Strolling casually through Terminal 2, a small bag on her shoulder and the initials LOL (text-speak for ‘Laugh out Loud’) on her white T-shirt, she was just one of the 150,000 or so passengers the Malaysian hub handles each day.
But this wasn’t any other woman of her age. She was a specialist assassin who had been sent on a mission, a mission to take out one man thought to be the greatest threat to Kim Jong-un. The job she was to do it with the help of a second female accomplice.
Their planned assassination wouldn’t be hard, considering the target was known to have a soft spot for women, in addition to his gambling and alcoholic lifestyle.
Jong-nam has been a target for a long time due to his dismissal of the North Korean regime, famously referring to it as a “joke in the outside world.”
