NK political assassination

[MillCreek]

The latest announcement on the toxin used is that it was VX nerve agent.  Forensic people in Malaysia are trying to figure out how the assailants apparently applied the agent with their bare hands without dying themselves.  Video shows them rapidly going to a restroom and washing their hands.  I wonder if they were wearing nitrile gloves or the like.  Can you also administer a prophylactic dose of atropine before nerve agent exposure and that would provide a safety margin to the assailants.

[BobR]

Really, it must some genetic manipulation making the applier impervious to the immediate effect of the VX.

I mean really, we are talking about the part of the world where they clone dogs and make cats glow in the dark.  


bob

[Hawkmoon]

Would coating your hands with Vaseline be enough for short-term protection?

[zahc]

its not something I have seen much in modern times, but my grandpa used to have "liquid gloves" substance that you were supposed to put on your hands like sunscreen and it protected your skin fro. paint and paint thinner for a certain amount of time

[mtnbkr]

its not something I have seen much in modern times, but my grandpa used to have "liquid gloves" substance that you were supposed to put on your hands like sunscreen and it protected your skin fro. paint and paint thinner for a certain amount of time

I've used that stuff before.  Twenty-odd years ago, when I worked for Parks and Rec during Summers, we had that stuff in spray cans.  It worked ok, but I wouldn't trust it for something that could kill me.

Chris

[slugcatcher]

VX...Hopefully the Norks will have nukes miniaturized enough for political assassination soon.  It might be safer.

[BobR]

I read that it *may* have been VX2. A binary VX that needs to be combined, battlefield safety you know and slower acting. That would also explain why it took two of them, each one with portion of the concoction. That still doesn't explain how the 2nd person would get away with it if she had one part on her hands and then wiped over the other part, she would still get some transference which could be bad. This will enter the books with MH370, we won't ever be sure.


bob

[zahc]

is it hard to believe that they were just expendable, and died later?

[Angel Eyes]

is it hard to believe that they were just expendable, and died later?

If so, they're taking an awfully long time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-nam

According to experts, the use of VX gas may explain why two assailants were involved, because each assailant "could have wiped two or more precursors" in Kim's face
...
Following Kim's death, Malaysian police arrested a woman at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in connection with the attack on 14 February 2017. The woman, a 28-year-old named Đoàn Thị Hương, was in possession of Vietnamese travel documentation. Đoàn was identified through CCTV footage. On 16 February, a 25-year-old woman named Siti Aishah with Indonesian travel documentation was arrested and identified as the second female suspect.  Aishah's boyfriend, a 26-year-old Malaysian named Muhammad Farid Bin Jalaluddin, was also arrested to assist in the investigation.

Đoàn told the police that she was instructed by four men who were travelling with her and her travelling companion to spray the victim with an unidentified liquid while her companion held and covered the victim's face with a handkerchief as part of a prank.

So the second woman used a cloth, presumably with the second part of the binary weapon.  Still risky, but survivable.


Related: looks like the Chinese are peeved at the Norks over the assassination and are hitting N.K. economically: 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-39000681

[TommyGunn]

According to experts, the use of VX gas may explain why two assailants were involved, because each assailant "could have wiped two or more precursors" in Kim's face
...

So.... someone wipes Kim's face with  mystery juice and he stands there and allows one or two others to do the same?  Really? 
OK.   I guess I get someone can be doing a "what the hell was THAT?!?!"   
Wasn't he a little paranoid about being assassinated?   I seem to recall reading he was....
...so he stands there.....going "what the   ***** was that?" in his mind ....

[freakazoid]

He was sitting at the airport and she came behind with a towel that she used to cover and pull is face back.
There had been an attempt back in 2012 and he wrote to his brother asking for no more attempts and that he had nothing to fear from him.

[RevDisk]

Binary poison, is my guess.

[TommyGunn]

He was sitting at the airport and she came behind with a towel that she used to cover and pull is face back.
There had been an attempt back in 2012 and he wrote to his brother asking for no more attempts and that he had nothing to fear from him.

OK..   Still ....woman beats up man?   

Never mind.  It obviously happened, so the guy wasn't James Bond.  Who is?

[Hawkmoon]

One of the young, ah ... "ladies" claims she was paid $90 for her role in the "prank."

http://www.newser.com/story/238904/suspect-in-nk-assassination-i-thought-it-was-baby-oil.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=united&utm_campaign=rss_home

[AJ Dual]

I too think the binary VX or other poison theory is a good one.

Because actual active VX... the LD/50 is insanely small.  Like dewdrop small.

[freakazoid]

One of the young, ah ... "ladies" claims she was paid $90 for her role in the "prank."

http://www.newser.com/story/238904/suspect-in-nk-assassination-i-thought-it-was-baby-oil.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=united&utm_campaign=rss_home

This has been on the news every single day here since it's happened. My wife said that they eventually admitted to knowing what they were doing.