Kim Jong Un's Brother Died Within 20 Minutes Of Poisoning

“It did it so fast and all over the body, so it affected the heart, it affected the lungs, it affected everything," Malaysia’s health minister said.
A Hazmat (hazardous materials) team conducts checks inside Kuala Lumpur Internatinal Airport 2 (KLIA2) airport terminal at Sepang, Malaysia, 26 February 2017.
A Hazmat (hazardous materials) team conducts checks inside Kuala Lumpur Internatinal Airport 2 (KLIA2) airport terminal at Sepang, Malaysia, 26 February 2017.
NurPhoto via Getty Images

Kim Jong Un’s half brother died just 15 to 20 minutes after he was poisoned, Malaysia’s health minister said Sunday.

Health Minister Subramaniam Sathasivam revealed that Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of the North Korean leader, began showing symptoms within minutes after two women wiped a poisonous liquid on his face at Kuala Lumpur’s airport on Feb. 13. He fainted in the airport clinic and died in the ambulance traveling to a hospital.

“It did it so fast and all over the body, so it affected the heart, it affected the lungs, it affected everything,” Subramaniam told reporters at a press conference Sunday.

“I would think it was about, from the time of onset, from the time of application, 15-20 minutes,” he estimated, according to The Associated Press.

Malaysian authorities confirmed Friday that the poison used in the attack was VX nerve agent, an incredibly deadly and rarely seen chemical classified by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction.

“This is one of those agents that absorbs well through the skin,” Subramaniam said Sunday.

Malaysia has not implicated North Korea in the attack, and the hermit kingdom has denied any involvement. However, Malaysian officials say four North Korean men provided the poison to the two women, one of whom was from Indonesia and one of whom was from Vietnam. The men fled Malaysia the day of the attack, and the women were arrested.

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