Kim Jong-nam

Kim Jong-nam was the older half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.^[1] He died, in Kuala Lumpur International Airport, poisoned by VX nerve agent, in February 2017.^[2]

Japanese officials caught Kim Jong-nam trying to enter Japan using false identity papers.^[3] He told them he wanted to visit Japanese Disneyland.^[3] Commentators speculated it was this incident that ruined his chance of being chosen as his father's successor.

North Korean Intelligence officials recruited two young women to smear his face with VX.^[1] They thought that they were smearing his face, for a video stunt, to be recorded by hidden cameras. VX is stored and transported in binary form -- as two separate liquids, that are relatively non-toxic, and only become toxic when mixed. The two women were not poisoned as the two liquids only became toxic when they were mixed, when they smeared his face.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Steven Pike (2024-03-28). "The Most Deadly of Nerve Agents: VX". Argon Electronics. Archived from the original on 2024-04-17. Retrieved 2025-12-29. Kuala Lumpur International Airport was the unlikely scene of one of the last known uses of the deadly nerve agent VX. In February 2017, Kim Jong Nam, the elder half-brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was preparing to take a return flight to his home in exile in Macau. He was approached and ambushed by two young women with a mysterious substance. Despite receiving immediate first aid, including an emergency tracheal intubation, Kim Jong Nam succumbed to death in considerable pain just 15 to 20 minutes later. While it was quickly established that the unfortunate Kim Jong Nam had been smeared with a toxic substance, the violent and rapid onset of death caused considerable speculation as to what substance could have been administered that was so fast-acting.
↑ Heather Nauert (2018-03-06). "Imposition of Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act Sanctions on North Korea". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 2018-03-07. Retrieved 2025-12-29. On February 22, 2018, the United States determined under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act) that the Government of North Korea used the chemical warfare agent VX to assassinate Kim Jong Nam, in the Kuala Lumpur airport.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 "North Korea's secretive 'first family'". BBC News. 2010-09-21. Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2026-01-01. But his chances of succession appeared to be ruined when, in 2001, Japanese officials caught him trying to sneak into Japan using a false passport. He told officials that he was planning to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

[Argon2024-03-28-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Steven Pike (2024-03-28). "The Most Deadly of Nerve Agents: VX". Argon Electronics. Archived from the original on 2024-04-17. Retrieved 2025-12-29. Kuala Lumpur International Airport was the unlikely scene of one of the last known uses of the deadly nerve agent VX. In February 2017, Kim Jong Nam, the elder half-brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was preparing to take a return flight to his home in exile in Macau. He was approached and ambushed by two young women with a mysterious substance. Despite receiving immediate first aid, including an emergency tracheal intubation, Kim Jong Nam succumbed to death in considerable pain just 15 to 20 minutes later. While it was quickly established that the unfortunate Kim Jong Nam had been smeared with a toxic substance, the violent and rapid onset of death caused considerable speculation as to what substance could have been administered that was so fast-acting.

[StateChemical2018-03-06-2] Heather Nauert (2018-03-06). "Imposition of Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act Sanctions on North Korea". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 2018-03-07. Retrieved 2025-12-29. On February 22, 2018, the United States determined under the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act of 1991 (CBW Act) that the Government of North Korea used the chemical warfare agent VX to assassinate Kim Jong Nam, in the Kuala Lumpur airport.

[bbc2010-09-21-3] 3.0 ^3.1 "North Korea's secretive 'first family'". BBC News. 2010-09-21. Archived from the original on 2012-10-23. Retrieved 2026-01-01. But his chances of succession appeared to be ruined when, in 2001, Japanese officials caught him trying to sneak into Japan using a false passport. He told officials that he was planning to visit Tokyo Disneyland.

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