Chemical weaponsKim Jong-nam killed by VX nerve agent: Malaysian police

Published 24 February 2017

Malaysian police have said the substance used in the killing of Kim Jong-nam was a VX nerve agent. North Korea, which is not a member of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), is in possession of a large stockpiles of chemical weapons — between 2,500 and 5,000 metric tons, with Sarin and VX making up the bulk of the arsenal. Experts say that the public nature of the killing, and the assailants’ disregard for the safety of bystanders, is comparable to the assassination in London of former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko. Litvinenko, who became a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin, was killed on Putin’s orders by two agents of the FSB in London in November 2006. The agents placed small quantities of radioactive poison, polonium-210, in his tea.

Malaysian police have said the substance used in the killing of Kim Jong-nam was a VX nerve agent.

The substance – also known as ethyl N-2-Diisopropylaminoethyl Methylphosphonothiolate – is classified by the UN as a weapon of mass destruction.

Kim Jong-nam died on 13 February after a woman had sprayed chemicals on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport. Malaysian police had said earlier that two female attackers rubbed – or sparayed — a liquid on Kim Jong-nam before walking away and quickly washing their hands.

CNN reports that the 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 it was immediately washed off. CDC says that the only known use of VX is in chemical warfare.

VX is a clear, colorless liquid with the consistency of engine oil. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, a fraction of a drop, absorbed through the skin, is enough fatally to disrupt the nervous system. VX was developed in the 1950s by a British chemist researching pesticides, but was later found to be too toxic to be used safely.

Saddam Hussein used VX during the Iran-Iraq War, and the Assad regime in Syria still has small quantities of VX at its disposal, even though Syria was supposed to relinquish all of its chemical weapons. Both the United States and Russia have VX in their arsenals.

North Korea, which is not a member of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), is in possession of a large stockpiles of chemical weapons — between 2,500 and 5,000 metric tons, with Sarin and VX making up the bulk of the arsenal.

South Korea’s intelligence services say that the North is capable of producing most types of chemical weapons and Pyongyang is thought to be concentrating upon sulphur mustard, chlorine, phosgene, sarin, and the V-agents, of which VX is one. Defectors have told stories of North Korea testing its chemical agents on jumans.

In addition to its high toxicity, VX does not dissipate quickly, remain active on material or on the ground for long periods.

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 that the presence of two assailants was significant, since they may have used a “binary concoction” — smearing two non-fatal elements of VX which mix on the victims face to form deadly VX.

Experts say that the public nature of the killing, and the assailants’ disregard for the safety of bystanders, is comparable to the assassination in London of former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko. Litvinenko, who became a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin, was killed on Putin’s orders by two agents of the FSB in London in November 2006. The agents placed small quantities of radioactive poison, polonium-210, in his tea.

Melissa Hanham, a senior nonproliferation researcher specializing in east Asia at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, told the Guardian: “Both [attacks] are tough investigations, both are very expensive ways to kill someone, both are meant to send a message.”