KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police said on Friday (Feb 24) a preliminary report showed the murder of Kim Jong Nam was carried out with a highly toxic chemical known as VX nerve agent.
The Inspector General of Malaysia Khalid Abu Bakar said in a press release that the Centre for Chemical Weapons identified the substance in its preliminary analysis.
The police said swabs were taken from the eye and the face of the dead North Korean national. "Other exhibits are under analysis," Khalid said in the statement.
Malaysian police added the substance was identified as ethyl S-2-Diisopropylaminoethyl methylphosphonothiolate (or VX nerve agent) in a report by its chemistry department. The substance is a chemical weapon classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations.
VX is tasteless and odourless, and is outlawed under the Chemical Weapons Convention, except for "research, medical or pharmaceutical purposes".
It can be manufactured as a liquid, cream or aerosol. Absorbed in large doses, it is fatal after 15 minutes, according to the U.S. Army's Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, making it the most toxic known nerve agent in the world.
Kim Jong Nam is the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The body of a North Korean man who died in an apparent assassination at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb 13 has been unclaimed in a Kuala Lumpur hospital.
His passport identifies him as "Kim Chol", but police need DNA, medical and dental records to confirm who he is.
Police chief Khalid said earlier that a Vietnamese woman and a Indonesian woman wiped a liquid on Kim Jong Nam's face. They later washed their hands and fled the scene.
Airport camera footage released on Monday by Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV shows the moment the women appeared to assault Kim Jong Nam, who is later seen asking airport officials for medical help. He died on the way to hospital.
Malaysia on Thursday requested Interpol to put an alert out to apprehend four North Korean suspects in the murder.
Police are also holding one North Korean man, but are seeking another seven in connection with the murder.
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