Malaysia’s health authorities have confirmed that VX nerve agent killed the estranged half-brother of North Korea’s young leader Kim Jong-un. The world is startled by the North’s brutality using the banned chemical weapon at a crowded international airport.
VX is a highly powerful nerve agent that can kill a person in a very short time through skin exposure. That is why the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) classified VX as a chemical weapon and has banned its use.
The North’s apparent assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the first son of its late ruler Kim Jong-il, clearly reneges on an international pact, although the reclusive state is not a signatory.
Pyongyang’s threat of chemical weapons is not new. North Korea boasts the world’s third-largest stockpile of chemical weapons following the United States and Russia. There is no question that the North’s chemical weapons are threatening world peace along with its missile and nuclear arsenals.
Given that the isolated regime in Pyongyang continues to refuse to join the CWC, it could be other grounds for toughening international sanctions.
It is unclear why North Korea used the highly powerful nerve agent to assassinate the exiled elder brother. There is speculation that Kim Jong-un might have wanted to draw attention to the North’s capabilities to produce and use chemical weapons. But considering that it would only bring harsher punitive measures, this seems doubtful.
North Korea’s threats of chemical and biological weapons are clear and present. On the first day of a hypothetical war here, Seoul’s Defense Ministry says, the North would fire chemical and biological weapons through its long-range guns, killing nearly 2.8 million people.
Nonetheless, our preparation for such threats seems insufficient. The horrendous crime therefore must serve as an occasion for our military to reexamine its defense posture for chemical and biological warfare.
It is also necessary to join forces with the international community to put stronger pressure on Pyongyang to stop producing and stockpiling chemical and biological weapons. The U.S. must relist the communist country as a state sponsor of terrorism.