US says North Korea assassinated Kim Jong-nam with chemical weapon

The United States has determined North Korea used a banned chemical weapon to assassinate the half brother of leader Kim Jong-un in Malaysia last year, with the claim coming just hours after Pyongyang signalled it was willing to give up its nuclear weapons.

Kim Jong-nam was killed with the chemical warfare agent VX at the Kuala Lumpur airport last year, violating the Chemical and Biological Weapons Control and Warfare Elimination Act.

“The United States strongly condemns the use of chemical weapons to conduct an assassination,” Heather Nauert, a state department spokesperson, said in a statement.

“This public display of contempt for universal norms against chemical weapons use further demonstrates the reckless nature of North Korea and underscores that we cannot afford to tolerate a North Korean [weapons of mass destruction] program of any kind.”


Source : theguardian