VX nerve agent, that is.
Not the sort of thing one expects to find in the average home (although a former restaurant owner near and dear to me has called my own cooking into question), therefore presumably something from some government stockpile. Its use on Kim Jong Nam, who was known to favor modernizing and liberalizing his country but who had prudently avoided visiting there of late, leaves little doubt as to which government’s stockpile was the source.
It’s remarkable that Malaysia persisted in conducting a proper investigation of Mr. Kim’s death. Just out of curiosity, how far is Malaysia from North Korea and what is the range of North Korea’s newest missile (the one that didn’t blow up when tested)? I have no doubt that Mr. Razak (the Malaysian PM) already knows, just as he knows that the Delightful Leader does not especially like being thwarted or seen to be less than all-powerful. Mr. Razak is a brave man.
I can’t help wondering whether the Wonderful Leader, shown in the above picture giving “field guidance” on how to sprinkle cigarette ashes on children, ever discovered who was responsible for the naughty arrangement of the stuffed toys on the cabinet behind him and, if so, what fate befell the perpetrator. I’d guess that, a full-scale State assassination, complete with exotic chemistry and nubile females, not being called for, a volley of 7.62 x 39 mm. rifle rounds would have done the job acceptably.
Again just wondering, does anyone know what specific means were used to dispatch the Stupendous Leader’s uncle? Or what mental condition would lead him (the Incomparable Leader, not the uncle) to bump off his own relatives? (Relax, my family members, some of you may be irritating at times but you’re all quite safe so far as I’m concerned.)
Boadicea's Chariot 
Cog, we await your ‘above picture’, pretty please.
Jang Song-thaek was, apparently, executed by being torn apart by ravenous dogs. North Korea can only exist so long as there is a descendent of Kim Il-sung in charge. The state mythology follows in a very perverse way the old Confucian monarchy of the Kingdom of Korea, briefly Empire of Korea. In China ethnically mixed (the Sui and Tang where mixed Steppe Nomad and Han) or even entirely foreign dynasties(Mongol Yuan, Manchu Qing) have ruled the empire. Since the An Lushan Rebellion (755-763AD) China has not had an aristocracy. Positions in the government were awarded on merit and in theory anyone could sit the civil service examinations. In Korea, there was an established aristocracy with a strict hierarchy. The royal family was the highest among them. Thus, for there to be a change in power required a spare heir of the highest pedigree. The Chinese are displeased with the course that Kim Jong-un has taken. Kim Jong-nam technically had a better claim on power than his younger brother and was largely, like Jang Song-thaek, popular in Beijing. With him gone, there is no choice but to accept either Kim Jong-un or face a united Korea, under Seoul, with a US military presence.
To CT: Thank you for the answer to my question as well as for all the additional information. That method of execution seems a bit harsh, even to me (I personally favor the guillotine, in a fully public setting). And then there’s the issue of us not being able to profit by renting our dogs out for such executions; they’re all far too well fed. The punishment to be imposed upon you for divulging such information is that I may come to regard you as a resource for arcane facts about the mysterious East, where you have apparently spent considerable time.
To Janus and any others disappointed by the missing picture: It was there in the preview I viewed on WordPress but disappeared in the published version. Prompted by something my wifeperson said, I dug deep into the properties of the photo file and found that it is copyrighted. I assume, therefore, that it was removed by WordPress without even a menacing note to me. Mea (expletive deleted) culpa! True, it was something I “lifted” from the Internet (I don’t remember the specific source) a couple of years ago, but I never intended to profit from it and 99% of those pictures I’ve similarly borrowed show no trace of being copyrighted in any case. I’ll be more careful in future. Please don’t send the vicious dogs!
Said picture shows the Magnificent Leader visiting a nursery of some sort, standing with one hand resting on one end of a crib, a cigarette with a good amount of ash dangling from his fingers. On a cabinet behind him there are two stuffed toy animals arranged in, erm, the “mating position.”
Coggy – Nothing to do with WordPress, or Copyright or the Chariot’s Management, but regrettably down to your lack of expertise in inserting piccies. No worries, I have corrected the error. Have a nice day, now. 🙂
Cog, nice pic, at last. It was worth waiting for, particularly the expressions on all the participants’ faces, even if a product of Photoshop. And worry not, Backside has been using net pics for years, ignoring any copyright issues for his sins.
Prasutagus: Thank you for getting that picture inserted for me. I don’t want to keep bothering you every time I want to include a picture and so would appreciate a few tips on how to accomplish what you apparently managed so easily, also on changing my avatar to something other than the symbol assigned by WordPress.
I’ve never used WordPress previously but am told that they’ve changed their user interface more than once. Maybe one of these days they’ll get it right, so that even a cretin like yrs. truly can quickly and easily work out how to get things done before I die of old age or high blood pressure. I myself always strove for maximum user friendliness in those application “front ends” I’ve designed.
Cog, ‘puterdunce that I am, I refer you to the top of the homepage here – ‘images’. Very helpful in your situation……………. 😉
To do your own gravatar, go to ‘Site Admin’ on right below list of posts, then ‘Profiles’, then ‘My profile’…….