DOCSLIB.ORG

The Assassination of Kim Jong Passing Himself Off As the Son of a Diplomat

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Assassination of Kim Jong Passing Himself Off As the Son of a Diplomat Weekly Geopolitical Report By Bill O’Grady March 6, 2017 for his education. There he lived a low- profile existence learning languages and The Assassination of Kim Jong passing himself off as the son of a diplomat. Nam The young man showed an interest in technology while in Europe. On February 13th, Kim Jong Nam, the older half-brother of Kim Jong Un, the leader of At the age of 18, he was forced to return to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea North Korea. He became close to his aunt, (DPRK), was assassinated at an airport in Kim Kyong Hui, Kim Jong Il’s sister, and Malaysia. This event offers insights into the uncle, the Dear Leader’s brother-in-law, “Hermit Kingdom” and shows the audacious Jang Song Thaek. Kim Jong Nam was nature of the regime. given government positions monitoring technology; reportedly, he was instrumental In this report, we begin with a biography of in creating North Korea’s intranet. King Jong Nam. Next, we will recap the assassination. The following section will Still, it became apparent that Kim Jong Il discuss the context of the murder, including had become jaded with his oldest son. China’s difficult relations with North Korea Instead, he lavished attention on his and potential rationale behind the youngest mistress, Ko Young Hee, another assassination. As always, we will conclude actress, and his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, with potential market ramifications. the “Young Marshall.” Who was Kim Jong Nam? As the oldest son faded from relevance, he Kim Jong Nam was born in 1971, the began to travel extensively, spending time in grandson of the “Great Leader,” Kim Il China and Southeast Asia. There was a Song, and the son of Kim Jong Il, referred to rather infamous incident in 2001 when Kim as the “Dear Leader.” Kim Jong Nam’s Jong Nam, his wife, son and their au pair mother was an actress, Sung Hye Rim. Kim were detained in Japan. They were trying to Jong Il never married Kim Jong Nam’s enter the country on forged Dominican mother because the Great Leader Republic passports, reportedly to visit disapproved of his son’s relationship with Disneyland. After this embarrassment, Kim the actress. Because of this disapproval, Jong Nam rarely returned to Pyongyang. Kim Jong Nam led a cloistered existence, hidden from his grandfather. Since 2001, Kim Jong Nam lived under the protection of the Chinese government. It At the age of eight, Kim Jong Nam, along appears that he mostly lived in Macau, with his mother, was sent to Moscow for although there are reports he also had a school. By this time, his mother was residence in Beijing. There have also been considered “unstable” and she essentially reports that he had two separate families in abandoned her son. The young man didn’t both cities. Chinese security officials care much for the Soviet Union and dubbed him “Fat Bear”; he was known to be eventually ended up in Geneva, Switzerland a regular at gambling establishments and Weekly Geopolitical Report – March 6, 2017 Page 2 generally lived the life of a playboy. At the agents.1 Nerve agents work by shutting off same time, there are unsubstantiated rumors the process that allows the body’s muscles that he may have participated in money to relax. Instead, they constantly contract laundering for the DPRK. until suffocation occurs. As his health was declining, Kim Jong Il Although it is possible for non-state actors designated his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, to make nerve agents,2 VX is considered as his successor, ignoring the usual dynastic complicated enough that only nation-states succession of elder sons. On December 19, have the capability to make this variant of 2011, Kim Jong Il died of an apparent heart nerve agent. In addition, it appears highly attack. likely that the agent used was the even more sophisticated VX2, which is a binary Overall, Kim Jong Nam was a tragic figure. weapon. A binary chemical weapon comes He was hidden from his grandfather and in two parts, neither of which are lethal treated as an illegitimate son. At a young separately; they only become deadly when age, he was shipped out of the country and combined. Slow release variants have also abandoned by his mother. Although the been made. This characteristic makes the 2001 incident is often cited as the beginning weapon militarily useful because soldiers of Kim Jong Nam’s downfall, in reality, his don’t need to take extreme care in handling father didn’t seem all that fond of his oldest the components until combined. Thus, there son. That fact, more than anything, is virtually no chance that these chemicals probably led to his eventual exile. came from outside a government laboratory. The Assassination It only takes 10 milligrams (0.00035 ounces) On February 13th, Kim Jong Nam was of VX on the skin to be lethal; inhaled, it loitering in the low-cost carrier terminal at takes 25-30 milligrams. Thus, it is quite the Kuala Lumpur International Airport deadly. There is an antidote, atropine, when two young women accosted him. which allows muscles to relax.3 Doan Thi Huong, a 28-year-old Vietnamese national, came up from behind him and The two young women involved in the smeared his face with an oily substance. attack claim they were duped by North Almost immediately after, Siti Aisyah, a 25- Korean agents who told them they were year-old Indonesian national, wiped Kim involved in a reality TV show prank. Jong Nam’s face with a cloth. Kim began to However, Malaysian officials dispute this stumble and went to airport officials for assertion. They note that both women help. His condition rapidly deteriorated and rushed to wash their hands after the attack he died shortly thereafter. which is the proper protocol. In addition, Malaysian officials claim they have Malaysian officials quickly took control of the situation by taking the fallen North 1 The other three nerve agents are tabun (GA), sarin Korean’s body to a morgue and starting an (GB) and soman (GD). 2 investigation. It was determined that Kim The Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo was died from a specific nerve agent, VX. This able to make sarin gas and used it in subways in Japan on March 20, 1995. is one of four types of nerve agents and is 3 Soldiers who face the potential for chemical considered the deadliest of the nerve weapons attacks carry injectable atropine as part of their kit. Weekly Geopolitical Report – March 6, 2017 Page 3 evidence that the women practiced the attack an autopsy was conducted, but Malaysia is at shopping malls in Malaysia. It should be requiring a family member to either claim noted that Aisyah vomited while in custody, the body or send DNA from a family which is a common symptom of nerve gas member to prove Kim’s identity. Malaysia poisoning. The fact that Aisyah, who was did conduct the autopsy and determined he the second assailant, became ill does suggest was killed by VX, while North Korea has a binary agent was used. It isn’t known if disputed this finding, saying Kim died of a the two women had atropine in their heart attack. systems, although there has been some speculation that they may have because Why was Kim Jong Nam assassinated? neither died in the attack. Probably the best way to think about North Korea is that it is like a medieval kingdom. The fact that they survived is another factor Kim Jong Un has been eliminating potential that argues these women were not innocent rivals since taking control of North Korea. stooges. If they had been mere pawns, it We note that the Young Marshall has had a would have been just as easy to see them standing execution order on his half-brother perish along with Kim Jong Nam. Although since taking power in 2011. In addition, he it is rather easy to isolate these attackers has executed over 500 officials, including at from the broader conspiracy, they still least 140 senior officials. Notable is that he would have met with some of the executed his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, who assassination plotters and thus could identify was considered by some North Korean them to security personnel. It is more likely watchers as the second most powerful man that the two women did have some in the country. understanding of what they were doing, but it is also possible they didn’t know It should also be noted that the Young everything about the attack. Reports Marshall has reportedly used brutal methods indicate Malaysian prosecutors may seek the for execution. There have been rumors that death penalty for the two assailants. “enemies of the state” have met their demise by flame throwers and anti-aircraft guns.4 Malaysian officials were also looking for Using VX will likely terrify dissidents living four North Korean nationals whom they outside the Hermit Kingdom. These brutal suspected as part of the attack. However, methods are seen as a warning to opponents these men apparently left the country shortly of Kim Jong Un that a horrid fate may await after the incident and are presumably back if one falls out of favor with the regime. in North Korea. Thus, Kim Jong Nam’s assassination is part This assassination was a strong act in one of of a young leader’s plan to remove any the few nations friendly to North Korea. threats to his position. Kim Jong Nam had Prior to this event, Malaysia allowed North made some critical comments about his Koreans to visit without visas.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Hyperspectral and Smartphone Technology in CBRNE Countermeasures and Defence JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES in COMPUTING 256
    JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN COMPUTING 256 Jaana Kuula The Hyperspectral and Smartphone Technology in CBRNE Countermeasures and Defence JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN COMPUTING 256 Jaana Kuula The Hyperspectral and Smartphone Technology in CBRNE Countermeasures and Defence Esitetään Jyväskylän yliopiston informaatioteknologian tiedekunnan suostumuksella julkisesti tarkastettavaksi yliopiston Agora-rakennuksen auditoriossa 2 joulukuun 17. päivänä 2016 kello 12. Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by permission of the Faculty of Information Technology of the University of Jyväskylä, in building Agora, auditorium 2, on December 17, 2016 at 12 o’clock noon. UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2016 The Hyperspectral and Smartphone Technology in CBRNE Countermeasures and Defence JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN COMPUTING 256 Jaana Kuula The Hyperspectral and Smartphone Technology in CBRNE Countermeasures and Defence UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2016 Editors Timo Männikkö Department of Mathematical Information Technology, University of Jyväskylä Pekka Olsbo, Ville Korkiakangas Publishing Unit, University Library of Jyväskylä Produced in association with the National Defence University Department of Warfare URN:ISBN:978-951-39-6889-2 ISBN 978-951-39-6889-2 (PDF) ISBN 978-951-39-6888-5 (nid.) ISSN 1456-5390 Copyright © 2016, by University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä University Printing House, Jyväskylä 2016 To my Mother Kirsti Kuula, born Huurtola (Haltt) * 23.1.1925 † 1.5.2013 ABSTRACT Kuula, Jaana The Hyperspectral and Smartphone Technology in CBRNE Countermeasures and Defence Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2016, 214 p. (+ included articles) (Jyväskylä Studies in Computing ISSN 1456-5390; 256) ISBN 978-951-39-6888-5 (nid.) ISBN 978-951-39-6889-2 (PDF) Finnish summary Diss. Caused by industrial and military use as well as other sources of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive (CBRNE) materials, the global threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) remains in spite of such weapons being internationally prohibited.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 392 Ratification of Chemical Weapons
    RATIFICATION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION[CAP. 392. 1 CHAPTER 392 RATIFICATION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION ACT NOTE FROM THE LAW COMMISSIONER: This Act was formally revoked by article 5 of Act V of 2000, however because of sub-article (2) of the same article, it is being reproduced in whole. To authorise the Government to ratify the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and an their Destruction, to provide for the implementation by Malta of its provisions and for Malta’s membership of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and for matters connected therewith or ancillary thereto. 28th April, 1997 ACT V of 1997, as amended by Legal Notice 216 of 2000. 1. The title of this Act is Ratification of Chemical Weapons Title. Convention Act. 2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires - Interpretation. "Aircraft" has the same meaning which is given to it in the Civil Cap. 232. Aviation Act; "Convention" means the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, signed on behalf of Malta on the 13 January, 1993, in Paris, being a convention, a copy of the English text of which is set out in the Schedule to this Act; "Director" means the director of the National Authority for the purposes of this Act; "Director General" means the Director General of the Technical Secretariat; "Minister" means the Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs and Environment; "National Authority"
    [Show full text]
  • Npr 4.3: Evidence Iraq Used Chemical Weapons During
    Report: Iraq’s Use of CW in Gulf War EVIDENCE IRAQ USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS DURING THE 1991 PERSIAN GULF WAR by Jonathan B. Tucker Dr. Jonathan B. Tucker directs the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Project at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies. Prior to this appointment, he worked at the U.S. Department of State, the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, the Chemical and Biological Policy Division of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and on the staff of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses. He also served as a biological weapons inspector in Iraq with the United Nations Special Commission. id Iraqi forces employ chemical weapons dur- markable speed of the Coalition advance, combined with ing the 1991 Persian Gulf War? The U.S. De- the effectiveness of the strategic bombing campaign in Dpartment of Defense (DOD) and Central disrupting Iraq’s military command-and-control system, Intelligence Agency (CIA) have long insisted that they made it difficult for Iraqi commanders to select battle- did not. In a memorandum to Gulf War veterans dated field targets for chemical attack. Furthermore, the pre- May 25, 1994, Defense Secretary William J. Perry and vailing winds, which for six months had blown from the General John M. Shalikashvili, Chairman of the Joint northwest out of Iraq, shifted at the beginning of the Chiefs of Staff, declared, “There is no evidence, classi- ground war to the southeast, towards the Iraqi lines. fied
    [Show full text]
  • Sarin - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia Sarin from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
    12/21/2015 Sarin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sarin From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sarin, or GB, is a colorless, odorless Sarin[1] liquid,[5] used as a chemical weapon owing to its extreme potency as a nerve agent. It was classified as a weapon of mass destruction[6] in UN Resolution 687. Production and stockpiling of sarin was outlawed as of April 1997 by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, and it is classified as a Schedule 1 substance. Sarin is an organophosphorus compound with the formula [(CH3)2CHO]CH3P(O)F. It can be lethal even at very low concentrations, with death following within 1 to 10 minutes after direct inhalation due to suffocation from lung muscle paralysis, unless some antidotes, Names typically atropine or biperiden and Preferred IUPAC name pralidoxime, are quickly (RS)-Propan-2-yl methylphosphonofluoridate administered.[5] People who absorb a Other names non-lethal dose, but do not receive immediate medical treatment, may (RS)-O-Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate; IMPF; suffer permanent neurological GB;[2] damage. 2-(Fluoro-methylphosphoryl)oxypropane; Phosphonofluoridic acid, P-methyl-, 1-methylethyl ester Contents Identifiers CAS Number 107-44-8 ChEBI 1 Production and structure CHEBI:75701 ChEMBL ChEMBL509554 2 Biological effects ChemSpider 7583 3 Degradation and shelf life Jmol interactive Image (http://chemapps.stolaf.edu/jmol/jmol.php? 3D model=FP%28%3DO%29%28OC%28C%29C%29C) 4 Effects and treatment PubChem 7871 4.1 Diagnostic tests UNII B4XG72QGFM 5 History InChI SMILES 5.1 Use as a weapon Properties
    [Show full text]
  • Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Project Overview
    Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Project Overview The U.S. Army Chemical Material Agency’s Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel Project (NSCMP) provides centralized management and direction to the Department of Defense for the assessment and disposal of recovered chemical warfare materiel in a safe and environmentally sound manner. NSCMP personnel and equipment provide support to five mission areas: Mission Area Support Support to Combatant Commanders Providing tools and tactics to support Combatant Commander needs. Provide total project management and proven transportable assessment and treatment technologies to quickly respond to unplanned Emergency Response CWM recoveries onsite. Such recoveries are most often in response to CWM unearthed during range clearing operations and from burial sites. Safe, effective and environmentally sound Planned Remediation remediation support through project management and assessment and treatment of recovered items. A robust RDT&E mission seeks to establish the most innovative and effective means to assess and treat recovered warfare materiel, both Research, Development, chemical and industrial, benefitting the defense, Testing & Evaluation (RDT&E) engineering, chemistry, and safety industries. This includes product improvements of existing equipment and testing and evaluation of commercial systems. Support to Program Manager NSCMP provides flexible assessment and Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PM ACWA) treatment options to chemical stockpile and Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) as required destruction
    [Show full text]
  • Israel and Chemical/Biological Weapons: History, Deterrence, and Arms Control
    AVNER COHEN Israel and Chemical/Biological Weapons: History, Deterrence, and Arms Control AVNER COHEN1 Dr. Avner Cohen is Senior Fellow at the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland, as well as the Program on Security and Disarmament, at the University of Maryland. He is the author of Israel and the Bomb (New York Columbia University Press, 1998). n April 1948, David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s founding Klingberg espionage case, as well as the 1991 Gulf War father and first prime minister, wrote a letter to Ehud and the subsequent revelations about Iraq’s chemical and IAvriel, one of the Jewish Agency’s operatives in Eu- biological programs, have aroused public curiosity and rope, ordering him to seek out and recruit East European speculation regarding Israel’s capabilities in the CBW field. Jewish scientists who could “either increase the capacity Yet details about these programs—their history, strategic to kill masses or to cure masses; both are important.”2 rationale, and technical capabilities—remain shrouded in One of the scientists Avriel recruited was a 30-year old secrecy. epidemiologist and colonel in the Red Army named A comparison with Israel’s nuclear weapons (NW) pro- Avraham Marcus Klingberg. In time, Klingberg became gram highlights this point. Although Israel has not acknowl- one of Israel’s leading scientists in the area of chemical edged possessing NW and has declared that it “will not and biological weapons (CBW). He was among the found- be the first to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle ing members and, subsequently, the deputy director of East,” the existence of the Israeli bomb has been the the Israel Institute of Biological Research (IIBR) in Ness world’s worst kept secret since about 1970.4 That is not Ziona, a dozen miles southeast of Tel Aviv.
    [Show full text]
  • Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare Abbreviations and Acronyms
    Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare Abbreviations and Acronyms ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS A CPRP: chemical personnel reliability program CR: dibenz(b,f)(1,4)oxazepine AA: arachidonic acid CS: o-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile AC: hydrogen cyanide CSA: The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord ACGIH: American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hy- CSEPP: Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program gienists CSF: colony-stimulating factor Ach: acetylcholine CSMSPD: chemical surety medical support program director AChE: acetylcholinesterase Ct: concentration (C) of agent vapor or aerosol in air multiplied ADMS: assistant director of medical services by time (t) of exposure AEF: American Expeditionary Forces CWA: chemical warfare agent AEGL: acute exposure guidance level CWC: Chemical Weapons Convention (1993) AML: area medical laboratory CWS: US Army Chemical Warfare Service AMN: atropine methylnitrate AR: Army Regulation ARC: American Red Cross D ARDS: acute respiratory distress syndrome ATCA: 2-aminothiazoline-4-carboxylic acid DA PAM: Department of the Army pamphlet ATNAA: antidote treatment nerve agent autoinjector DA: diphenylchloroarsine ATP: adenosine triphosphate DC: diphenylcyanoarsine aTSP: active topical skin protectant DCE: defense coordinating element A-V: atrial-ventricular DEET: N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide DEPMEDS: deployable medical system DFP: diisopropyl phosphorofluoridate B DHHS: Department of Health and Human Services DHP: diisopropylfluorophosphate BA: bromoacetone DHS: Department of Homeland Security BAL:
    [Show full text]
  • Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act.Pdf
    Cap. 11:18 CHEMICAL WEAPONS (PROHIBITION) 9.'98 ZIMBABWE· ACT To enable effect to be given within Zimbabwe to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction with its Annexes. ENACTED by the President and the Parliament of Zimbabwe. 1 Short title This Act may be cited as the Chemical Weapons (Prohibition) Act [Chapter 11:18]. 2 .Int.rpretation (1) In this Act- "Convention" means the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Pro­ duction, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction signed at Paris, on the 13th January, 1993, including the Annexes thereto, the text of which is set out in the Schedule; "facility agreement" means a facility agreement referred to in Part III of the Veri­ fication Annex; "inspector" means a person designated by the Technical Secretariat in terms of the Verification Annex to carry out an inspection or visit in accordance with the Convention; "Minister" means the Minister of Defence or any other Minister to whom the President may, from time time, assign the administration of this Act; "observer" means an observer as defined in Part I of the Verification Annex; Printed by the Government Printer, Harare. 83 • 9198 CHEMICAL WEAPONS (PROHIBITION) Cap. 11:18 "representative" means- (a) a person appointed by the Secretary; or (b) a specified police officer; who accompanies or assists an inspector in carrying out his duties. "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Ministry for which the Minister is respon­ sible. "specified police officer" means any member of the Police Force of or above the rank of inspector.
    [Show full text]
  • CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION BULLETIN News, Background & Commentary Relevant to Chemical Weapons & Chemical Arms Control
    < D CHEMICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION BULLETIN News, Background & Commentary Relevant to Chemical Weapons & Chemical Arms Control ISSUE NO. 8 JUNE 1990 Published quarterly by the Federation of American Scientists Fund THE OPTION OF USING CHEMICAL WEAPONS Rolf Ek6us* Currently the Ambassador of Sweden to the CSCE Negotiations on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures, and formerly Ambassador of Sweden to the Conference on Disarmament The Geneva Protocol of 1925 prohibits the use of chemical weapons. A number of states par­ ties have, however, reserved a right to second use or to retaliation in kind with chemical weapons. Among them are the United States and the Soviet Union. The retaliatory use of chemical weapons requires the maintenance and prompt accessibility of useable weapons, the training of military personnel in their use, the elaboration of use scenarios for chemical warfare (CW) and periodic reliability checks of chemical warheads and delivery systems. The maintenance of such a use option necessitates an elaborated CW-culture within the military organiza­ tion of the user state. Thus, change from a second-use policy to a no-use policy is bound to meet resistance. In Geneva, states which have reserved the right to some use in relation to the Geneva Proto­ col’s prohibition are participating in negotiations on the Chemical Weapons Convention, which is to provide a comprehensive and verifiable ban on chemical weapons. A comprehensive ban would con­ tain undertakings by states parties not to develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer chemical weapons. It is obvious that a state which implemented in full the provisions of such undertakings would be incapable of carrying out any use of chemical weapons.
    [Show full text]
  • NSIAD-91-105 Chemical Warfare
    -------ll---l_-__~- -____ I’ t~chw;rI’)’ I I!)!) I CHEMICAL WARFARE DOD’s Successful. Effort to Remove U.S. Chemical Weapons From Germany (~AO,/NSIAI)-!)I-I or, ” *. “I “. I” “-l. ..-.. “I .- -...---.. - -_ .._ .._ __.. I” ,,., l,l.” ~“I ,“,l”~.-l- --..- United States General Accounting Office GAO Washington, DC. 20548 National Security and International Affairs Division B-242212 February 13,199l The Honorable Les Aspin Chairman, Committee on Armed Services House of Representatives The Honorable John Conyers, Jr. Chairman, Committee on Government Operations House of Representatives As you requested, we reviewed the Department of Defense’s (DOD) plans and efforts for transporting U.S. chemical weapons from the Federal Republic of Germany to Johnston Atoll for storage and eventual disposal. Specifically, we assessed(1) whether the removal plan was based on minimal technical and operational risk and maximum public safety, (2) the costs associated with the move, (3) the impact of the move on Johnston Atoll, and (4) DOD’s efforts to produce an adequate binary chemical weapons stockpile prior to the move. In May 1986, President Reagan and West German Chancellor Background Helmut Kohl agreed to the removal of U.S. chemical munitions from West Germany by 1992. However, in March 1989, U.S. Secretary of State James Baker announced that the United States would explore ways of expediting the removal of these munitions, and a removal goal of late 1990 was subsequently established. When Congress agreed to the accelerated removal date, it stipulated
    [Show full text]
  • NORTH KOREAN PROLIFERATION CHALLENGES: the ROLE of the EUROPEAN UNION Mark Fitzpatrick
    eU NoN-ProliferatioN CoNsortiUm The European network of independent non-proliferation think tanks NoN-ProliferatioN PaPers No. 18 June 2012 NORTH KOREAN PROLIFERATION CHALLENGES: THE ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION mark fitzpatrick I. INTRODUCTION SUMMARY The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, The bête noire of the global non-proliferation regime, or North Korea) presents the greatest challenge North Korea has defeated every effort to rein in its pursuit to the global non-proliferation regime. The only of nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles, chemical weapons country to have withdrawn from the 1968 Non- and illicit arms trade. Neither sanctions, incentives nor ‘strategic patience’ have succeeded in bringing about Proliferation Treaty (NPT)—under circumstances of anything more than a temporary stall in the development contested legality—North Korea is uniquely defiant of of these weapon systems. There appears to be no prospect international norms in nearly every respect. It is the that North Korea would barter its nuclear arsenal for only country to have tested nuclear weapons in the diplomatic or economic gain. Having fewer stakes in North 21st century, it has enough plutonium left for about East Asia than the actors in the Six-Party Talks process, the eight nuclear weapons and it is now pursuing a partially European Union (EU) has played, at most, a supporting hidden uranium enrichment programme. It possesses role, providing aid when incentives were called for and the third largest chemical weapon stockpile in the applying sanctions when that was in the script, while world and there are questions about its claim that it consistently promoting human rights.
    [Show full text]
  • Sarin Is a Highly Toxic Compound, Used in Chemical Weapons and As a Nerve Agent
    Sarin is a highly toxic compound, used in chemical weapons and as a nerve agent. It was discovered but not used in Germany during WWII. The toxin can cause death, comas, bleeding, and nausea. Sarin is an extremely toxic substance that is used as a nerve agent. It is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations and it's production is outlawed. Sarin, (O-Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate) is an extremely toxic substance whose sole application is as a nerve agent. It is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations in UN Resolution 687. Sarin is an extremely toxic substance whose sole application is as a nerve agent. It’s a chemical weapon and is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the UN in the UN Resolution 687. Sarin is an extremely toxic substance. Also sarin was discovered in 1938. As a chemical weapon, sarin is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations! Sarin, C4H10FO2P, is an exceedingly poisonous substance that is only used as a nerve agent. Because of its poisonous nature, it is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations. Sarin, C4H10FO2P, is a nerve gas that is colorless and odorless. Sarin will degrade after a few weeks to a few months. Sarin can be chemically deactivated with a strong alkali. Sarin is an extremely toxic substance used as a nerve agent that disrupts the way nerves tranfer messages to organs. Sarin is similar in structure to some chemicals commonly found in insecticides.
    [Show full text]