S. Korea's spy agency addresses Pyongyang as mastermind behind Kim Jong-nam's death

By Park Sae-jin Posted : February 27, 2017, 18:22 Updated : February 27, 2017, 18:22

Malaysian police decontaminate Kuala Lumpur International Airport where a VX nerve agent is suspected of being used to kill the half-brother of North Korea's leader. [Yonhap Photo]



North Korean foreign ministry and security officials have launched a joint operation in Malaysia to kill leader Kim Jong-un's half-brother with a nerve agent used in chemical warfare, South Korea's spy agency said Monday.

The operation involved four officials from the North's Ministry of State Security and two foreign ministry officials, the South's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a report to a parliamentary intelligence committee.

The spy agency charactered the murder of Kim Jong-nam in Malaysia on February 13 as a "terrorist attack" led by North Korean state bodies.

The brother was attacked by two women when he was waiting for a flight to Macau. The women -- one from Vietnam and one from Indonesia -- used bare hands to rub toxic substances which the Malaysian law enforcers identified as VX, a chemical weapon classified as a weapon of mass destruction.

China's recent import ban on coal from North Korea would leave about 300,000 North Koreans unemployed, the NIS said, adding the ban would cut the North's gross domestic production by 2.5 percentage points and its gain of foreign currency by 23 percent, or 78 million US dollars.

The ban came after Pyongyang launched a new missile called "Pukguksong-2", based on the test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) in August last year. North Korea's state media has blasted China for taking "non-humanitarian" steps to impose a trade embargo.

China is North Korea's only major ally, but their relations have become strained since leader Kim Jong-un came to power following the sudden death of his father in late 2011. In internal gatherings, Chinese officials voiced growing frustration with Kim's push for nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
 
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