The late brother of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un was carrying several bottles of nerve agent antidote when he was poisoned in a Malaysian airport earlier this year.
Kim Jong-Nam was carrying a dozen bottles of Atropine, an antidote to the VX nerve agent used to kill him, in his backpack, the Malaysian High Court heard today.
Two women, Siti Aisyah, 25, and Doan Thi Huong, 29, are accused of smearing VX on Kim Jong Nam’s face in a crowded airport terminal in Kuala Lumpur on February 13.
Prepared: Kim Jong-Nam, 46, was carrying a dozen bottles of an antidote to the VX nerve agent used to kill him at the time of the attack
Security camera footage shows Kim gesturing for help before he suffered seizures. He was dead within two hours.
Kim was carrying four diplomatic passports that identified him as Kim Chol, aged 46, and eight different international currencies, including $124,000, according to Straits Times.
He was also carrying a dozen small glass vials of Atropine, which is a medication which can be used to treat certain types of nerve agent and pesticide poisonings.
An autopsy showed the banned VX nerve agent was found on Kim’s face and in his eyes, blood, urine, clothing and bag.
Accused: Vietnamese Doan Thi Huong, center, is escorted by police as she leaves the Shah Alam court house after her trial in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
On trial: Indonesian Siti Aisyah, center,and Huong are accused of killing Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
Allegations: Aisya and Huong are accused of being the two women seen on CCTV smearing VX nerve agent on Kim Jong-Nam’s face
His organs were damaged, including part of his brain, both lungs, his liver and spleen. Doctors concluded the cause of his death was ‘acute VX nerve agent poisoning,’ and ruled out any other contributing factors.
Aisyah, from Indonesia, and Thi Huong, from Vietnam, are the only suspects in custody, though prosecutors have said four North Koreans who have since fled the country were also involved.
So far during the trial, prosecutors have focused on proving the women’s guilt but shied away from scrutinizing any political motive behind the killing.
The two women’s defense lawyers, who say their clients were duped into carrying out the attack, will look to shift that focus when the trial resumes on January 22.
It is known that Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of the family that has ruled North Korea since its founding, had been living abroad for years after falling out of favor with his father Kim Jong-Il.
It is thought that he could have been seen as a threat to his brother Kim Jong Un’s rule.