Kim Jong-un's Half-Brother Assassinated with VX Nerve Agent

[Chance]

I guess they really wanted the guy dead. From BBC News (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39073389):



Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korea's leader, was killed by a highly toxic nerve agent, says Malaysia.

Mr Kim died last week after two women accosted him briefly in a check-in hall at a Kuala Lumpur airport.

Malaysian toxicology reports indicate he was attacked using VX nerve agent, which is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations.

There is widespread suspicion that North Korea was responsible for the attack, which it fiercely denies.

It responded furiously to Malaysia's insistence on conducting a post-mortem examination and has accused Malaysia of having "sinister" purposes.

....

Malaysia's police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said on Friday that the presence of the nerve agent had been detected in swabs taken from Mr Kim's eyes and face.

One of the women Mr Kim interacted with at the airport on 13 February had also fallen ill with vomiting afterwards, he added.

What is the deadly VX nerve agent?


The most potent of the known chemical warfare agents, it is a clear, amber-coloured, oily liquid which is tasteless and odourless

Works by penetrating the skin and disrupting the transmission of nerve impulses - a drop on the skin can kill in minutes. Lower doses can cause eye pain, blurred vision, drowsiness and vomiting

It can be disseminated in a spray or vapour when used as a chemical weapon, or used to contaminate water, food, and agricultural products

VX can be absorbed into the body by inhalation, ingestion, skin contact, or eye contact

Clothing can carry VX for about 30 minutes after contact with the vapour, which can expose other people





Any NBC folks around have experience with this stuff? It sounds terrifying.

[Casual Friday]

That is some 24 type stuff there. Early 2000's Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer 24, not the 2017 watered down 24 with the kid that played Dr Dre in Straight Outta Compton.

[JHC]

"most potent of the known chemical agents"

other than the mythic novichok

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novichok_agent

[farscott]

When I first saw the news report, I thought of the Sean Connery/Nicolas Cage/Ed Harris/Michael Bay movie "The Rock".

[NEPAKevin]

That is some 24 type stuff there. ...

Second season of the Americans, Kari Russel's character kills a dude in a swimming pool using an aerosol weapon.

[Chance]

When I first saw the news report, I thought of the Sean Connery/Nicolas Cage/Ed Harris/Michael Bay movie "The Rock".

"Hey man, you just fucked up your Ferrari."
"It's not mine."

Still cracks me up after 20 years.

[Jeep]

With VX its lucky they didn't kill themselves and half the people in that airport.

Meanwhile the Chicoms are highly irritated because Kim Jong-nam was their guy. He was living in China.

[Chance]

With VX its lucky they didn't kill themselves and half the people in that airport.

Which suggests they weren't amateurs, although they still managed to get caught. I'm told VX is very complicated to make, which would make it unlikely for non-state actors to manufacture, so North Korea's responsibility in this seems pretty clear.

The two women that attacked him had to have some balls. I wouldn't go anywhere near that shit.

[TAZ]

Pretty efficient. Target dead. Hitter dead from skin exposure a bit later. No loose ends.

[Edwin]

The delivery method was really clever.

[Sal Picante]

The report doesn't say if the women that got sick was a ticket agent/help desk person or one of the attackers... Just "interacted with"... Scary for first responders, eh?

[Chance]

Pretty efficient. Target dead. Hitter dead from skin exposure a bit later. No loose ends.

I don't think she's dead, I think she just got sick. If you see an article saying she's dead, please link to it, cause I'd love to see it.

Now that I think about it, I'm kind of curious how Malaysia even thought to check for VX. Do hospitals stateside have a VX testing kit they can use? Testing for VX can't be SOP, so I'm guessing they knew who Kim Jong-nam was and exercised extra precautions.

[fatdog]

to check for VX. Do hospitals stateside have a VX testing kit they can use? Testing for VX can't be SOP

A friend who used to be in that field for the army told me it is usually the use of lab (gas or liquid) chromatography to find that stuff. He was riding around in a specialized Humvee during the first gulf war with all that equipment in the back taking air samples and running them through that chromatography equipment in the field, looking for signs of it.

His speculation was that anybody doing a serious thorough toxicology screening of blood and tissue would do that, and certainly find it because the attached lab computers do a comparison match against of the spectrum the chromatograph puts out against every known toxin.

[Chance]

BBC is now reporting (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39088777) the woman who attacked him was paid $90 and told it was a prank with baby oil.

This story just keeps getting weirder.

[Jim Watson]

Makes sense. Hard to tell somebody they are being given a chemical weapon for purpose of political assassination.

I read that there were TWO women who wiped or spritzed him.
Makes sense, there is a binary formulation for VX that would have been a lot less dangerous to the user and supplier.
Also might be slower to act as the poorly mixed components reacted in place, which could account for him making it even as far as the hospital.

High Pressure Liquid Chromatography is the laboratory method for analyzing nerve agents. There are specialty detector/analyzers for field use.

But as Chance said, how did it occur to them to check for VX in the first place? I think GB is easier to make and what about good old ricin or Polonium?

[Kyle Reese]

BBC is now reporting (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39088777) the woman who attacked him was paid $90 and told it was a prank with baby oil.

This story just keeps getting weirder.
That's a significant portion of the DPRKs GDP.

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

[Totem Polar]

Now that I think about it, I'm kind of curious how Malaysia even thought to check for VX. Do hospitals stateside have a VX testing kit they can use? Testing for VX can't be SOP, so I'm guessing they knew who Kim Jong-nam was and exercised extra precautions.
As I understand it, bro was a potential competitor for the crown if the Chinese got frisky, yes? Savvy Malaysians would probably check for *everything*. If he fell off a bridge, the first thing to check for would be fingerprints in between his shoulder blades. The second thing would be VX...

[Chance]

A friend who used to be in that field for the army told me it is usually the use of lab (gas or liquid) chromatography to find that stuff. He was riding around in a specialized Humvee during the first gulf war with all that equipment in the back taking air samples and running them through that chromatography equipment in the field, looking for signs of it.

His speculation was that anybody doing a serious thorough toxicology screening of blood and tissue would do that, and certainly find it because the attached lab computers do a comparison match against of the spectrum the chromatograph puts out against every known toxin.

So that would explain how they discovered VX. I wonder how many people jumped head-first into the shower when the results came back. :( I would have probably needed to buy new underwear too.

[Shoresy]

As I understand it, bro was a potential competitor for the crown if the Chinese got frisky, yes?

I'm not sure it would even take that provocation. Over the course of history, many dictators/monarchs have targeted their own family members. Some of those targets actually had intentions of seizing power, many were simply victims of an unfortunate position in the family tree. Add in an unhealthy dose of paranoia and I wouldn't put it past Kim Jong Il to kill him simply on the basis of existing.

[JAD]

I read this as a technical demonstration, a threat, and a provocation. The Norks are announcing that they have sophisticated delivery technology for a world-ending WMD, which combined with their ballistic missile demonstrations and the fact that they are batshit crazy amounts to clear and present danger.

It's unrealistic given the current state of alignments, but this is the sort of red line responsible, moral countries should react to with terminal action.

[Joe in PNG]

I read this as a technical demonstration, a threat, and a provocation. The Norks are announcing that they have sophisticated delivery technology for a world-ending WMD, which combined with their ballistic missile demonstrations and the fact that they are batshit crazy amounts to clear and present danger.
It's unrealistic given the current state of alignments, but this is the sort of red line responsible, moral countries should react to with terminal action.

North Korea is China's bloodthirsty pittbull. The Norks keep the US and Japan tied down in Korea, for one.
I'm also pretty sure China could have the entire Kim family dead and disappeared in less than 12 hours, if it came down to it.