Terror

Committee for Human Rights in North Korea
Chinese city of Dandong, 331 when he suddenly fell to the ground while foaming at the mouth. He
was found with “a discolored complexion, spots on his fingers and limbs, flecks of foam on his
mouth,” 332 and died before arriving at the hospital. 333
Kim’s family suspected North Korean agents of his murder, but the South Korean Foreign Ministry
did not initially confirm whether it believed that North Korea was involved in the attacks. 334 It
said that the Chinese government had conducted an autopsy and had found no traces of poison.
The Seoul Central District Court ordered prosecutors to investigate the attacks. In December
2012, the Korea Times reported that the prosecutors had concluded that North Korean agents
were behind Kim’s murder.
According to the court ruling, in March 2010 the North Korean
agent was ordered to keep an eye on Kim who was helping North
Koreans defect to the South. The agent in question contacted Kim
by pretending to be a defector, and reported Kim’s activities to the
North’s intelligence agency. 335
According to the report, the agents murdered Kim with neostigmine bromide, 336 a powerful toxin
loaded into syringes disguised as pens.
4. 2011: Attempted Assassination of Activist in Yanji, China
The L.A. Times also reported that a North Korean agent was suspected in an attack against
another South Korean activist, in the city of Yanji, China, a day after the murder of Patrick Kim.
The unidentified activist reported that while he was standing at an intersection, “he felt a
pinprick in his lower back.” “As he collapsed, he heard a man muttering behind him in Chinese,
‘Sorry, sorry.’” This time, the victim survived. 337
331 “North Korean Agents Suspected In ‘Poison Needle’ Attacks In China,” AFP, 09 September 2011.
332 “S. Korean missionary dies near Chinese border with N. Korea,” Yonhap News, 09 September 2011.
333 Barbara Demick, “North Korea suspected in poison-needle attacks,” op. cit.
334 “North Korean Agents Suspected In ‘Poison Needle’ Attacks In China,” AFP, op. cit.
335 Kim Rahn, “Missionary poisoned by NK agent,” The Korea Times, 07 December 2012.
336 “Material Safety Data Sheet: Neostigmine Bromide,” TCI America, 26 February 2005,
https://www.spectrumchemical.com/MSDS/TCI-N0358.pdf.
337 Barbara Demick, “North Korea suspected in poison-needle attacks,” op. cit.
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