N. Korea accuses S. Korea, U.S. of killing leader Kim's half brother

SEOUL, March 1 (Yonhap) -- Denying its own involvement, North Korea on Wednesday accused South Korea and the United States of killing a North Korean, believed to be North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's half brother, without acknowledging the deceased as such.

In a dispatch from Pyongyang, the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the person was a North Korean citizen named "Kim Chol," carrying a diplomatic passport.

"The cause of his death has not yet been clearly identified but the U.S. and the South Korean authorities are groundlessly blaming the DPRK, asserting that he was intoxicated by highly poisonous VX nerve substance," the KCNA report said. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Kim Jong-nam, an older half brother of the North Korean leader, was killed Feb. 13 at an airport in Kuala Lumpur after two women, believed to have been hired by the communist North, allegedly smeared the nerve agent on his face.

The North Korean news outlet, however, claimed the agent could not have been VX.

"World media query that if component of VX was allegedly detected from Kim Chol's eyes and lips, the ambulance that carried him and police who guarded him must have all been intoxicated and if so, the airport should have been closed but it is still in operation," it said.

However, it accused the U.S. or South Korea of using the nerve agent to kill the North Korean, claiming the U.S. is one of a few countries that still possesses the substance.

"Almost all countries have scrapped chemical weapons under the convention on ban on chemical weapons but only the U.S. and some other countries still possess the said substance," it said. "What is all the more problematic is the fact that the U.S. is introducing into South Korea all kinds of chemical weapons."

The communist North is believed to to have up to 3,000 tons of chemical weapons.

Malaysia police have also arrested a North Korean man, Ri Jong-chol, on suspicions of smuggling in the chemical substance from North Korea and providing it for the murder of the North Korean leader's half brother.

The KCNA report claimed the murder of the North Korean citizen was an act staged by Seoul and Washington in an attempt to stir up international repugnance against the North, and thus start a nuclear war against the communist state.

"The U.S. and its vassal forces should not run amuck, clearly understanding the strategic position of the DPRK as a nuclear power," it said.

bdk@yna.co.kr
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