N. Korean Leader’s Brother Died Within 20 Mins. of Poisoning

Malaysia’s health minister said on Sunday that the dose of nerve agent given to North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un’s half brother was so high that it killed him “within 15 to 20 minutes.”

Kim Jong-nam died February 13 at Kuala Lumpur’s airport in what Malaysian police say was a well-planned hit by two women who wiped a liquid on Kim’s face. Police revealed on Friday that the banned chemical weapon VX nerve agent was used to kill Kim, raising the stakes significantly in the case, AP reported.

Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam said the dose of VX given to Kim was so high that he showed symptoms within minutes.

“Kim fainted at the airport clinic and subsequently died in the ambulance while en route to a hospital,” he said.

Subramaniam said hospital doctors suspected from the start that Kim had been given a form of toxic chemical agent due to the rapid symptoms.

Experts say the nerve agent used to kill Kim was almost certainly produced in a sophisticated state weapons laboratory and is banned under an international treaty. But North Korea never signed the treaty and it has spent decades developing a complex chemical weapons program.

Kim was not an obvious political threat to his estranged half brother, Kim Jong-uUn. But he may have been seen as a potential rival in North Korea’s dynastic dictatorship, even though he had lived in exile for years. North Korea has denied any role in the attack.