Kim Jong Nam ‘died within 20 minutes’ of nerve agent attack

Jong-nam, 45, was reportedly assassinated by two women as he waited for his flight to Macau at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia on February 13. Malaysian authorities arrested two female suspects, whom they identified as an Indonesian and Vietnamese nationals, days later.

Indonesia’s deputy ambassador Andriano Erwin told reporters that Aisyah said she had been paid the equivalent of $90 for what she believed was a harmless prank.

Lee also cited the NIS as saying that Kim Won Hong’s dismissal was linked to the false reports said to have “enraged” Kim Jong Un when they were discovered.

Police officials say no flights are scheduled at the terminal during the sweep.

The odorless and colorless VX nerve agent is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations and is banned under the global Chemical Weapons Convention.

Vietnamese officials have not released any further details about Huong, but family members have said she was fashion-conscious, maintained funky hairstyles and dated foreign boyfriends.

Malaysia says it will issue an arrest warrant for a North Korean diplomat if he refuses to cooperate with the investigation into the deadly attack on North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un’s exiled half brother.

Officials from the Vietnam embassy were also seen at the police station.

Citing South Korea’s spy agency, CNN said two North Korean ministries orchestrated the assassination.

Given that Malaysia is one of the few friends of North Korea the diplomatic meltdown resulting from this incident has caused concern, particularly given North Korean remarks on its nuclear capabilities in missives presented to the Malaysian authorities.

North Korea has blamed Malaysia and South Korea for the killing and has demanded that Kim’s body be handed over to the embassy.

A hazmat team conducts a decontamination operation at the departures terminal of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

“The point was made”, said Raymond Zilinskas, director of the chemical and biological nonproliferation program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California.

But he said one of them had suffered from the effects of the chemical and had been vomiting.

Malaysian authorities said they were looking for eight North Korean nationals in connection with Mr Kim’s murder, including a high-level North Korean diplomat and an employee of North Korea’s state-owned airline Air Koryo.

North Korea helped Syria build its chemical weapons stockpile, which included VX. A colorless, odorless liquid, similar in consistency to motor oil, it kills in tiny quantities that can be absorbed through the skin. He died less than 20 minutes later as he was transported to a hospital.

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

Authorities meant to decontaminate the airport, along with other locations visited by suspects, amid concern VX could have evaporated into the air.

Seoul slammed the use of the toxin as a “blatant violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and other worldwide norms”. Security camera footage shows them going to the bathroom immediately after the attack, presumably to wash their hands.