The US State Department has said that the North Korean government used chemical warfare agent VX to assassinate half-brother of Kim Jong-un in Malaysia in 2017

The US State Department has said that the North Korean government used chemical warfare agent VX to assassinate half-brother of Kim Jong-un in Malaysia in 2017

State Department says it has imposed additional sanctions on North Korea over the assassination.

An autopsy showed the banned VX nerve agent was found on Kim's face and in his eyes, blood, urine, clothing and bag

Jong-Nam was waiting for a flight to Macau at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Malaysia on February 13 when two women ran up to him from behind and appeared to spray an unidentified liquid on him.

He soon started feeling dizzy, collapsed and died before the ambulance carrying him made it to the hospital. Japanese broadcaster Fuji TV released a CCTV video that captured the attack.

The next day, South Korean television broadcaster TV Chosun reported that the two women were North Korean operatives who fled the airport in a taxi.

On February 15, South Korean government officials confirmed the death and told the press that North Korea's government had been planning to kill him for the past five years.

Kim Jong-Nam is the illegitimate son of deceased North Korea leader Kim Jong-Il and North Korean actress Song Hye Rim.

Jong-Nam pent an early part of his childhood living in secret with his mother's relatives in Pyongyang before leaving North Korea to study in top schools in Moscow and Geneva.

Doan Thi Huong, 29, from Vietnam and Siti Aisyah, 25, from Indonesia were arrested based on CCTV footage and they are now on trial for his murder.

Jong-Nam was waiting for a flight to Macau at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia on February 13 when two women ran up to him from behind and appeared to spray an unidentified liquid on him

On February 15, South Korean government officials confirmed the death and told the press that North Korea's government had been planning to kill him for the past five years

Jong-nam went into exile shortly after he was arrested in May 2001 at a Tokyo airport for trying to enter the country on a false passport from the Dominican Republic under the under the name 'Pang Xiong'

As of 2003, Jong-Nam split his time between Macau, Singapore and China with his six kids.

However, even in exile, But even while in exile, Kim Jong Nan gave interviews to European and Japanese press and would occasionally make critical comments about the North Korean government.

Some outlets reported that this earned Jong-Nam multiple threats over the years.

'He knew his life was at risk … and he was aware his brother was after him,' an anonymous source who knew Kim Jong-Nam for more than 10 years told China Morning Press.

In this image made from February 13, 2017, airport closed circuit television video and provided by Fuji Television, Kim Jong Nam, gestures towards his face while talking to airport security and officials at Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Kim was carrying four diplomatic passports and eight different international currencies when he was attacked

Multiple witnesses said they watched in horror as Jong-Nam struggled to breathe. Then his eyes rolled back before he lost consciousness. In little more than an hour, he was dead.

He approached an airport information counter to report the assault. Juliana Idris, the first person she spoke to at the counter, said that his hands were shaking a bit.

He told her he'd been 'attacked from behind by two women,' with one of them wiping something over his eyes.

Idris was one of a number of witnesses to recount the Kim Jong-nam's final moments as the trial began in Malaysia.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has previously referred to Pyongyang's use of chemical weapons. He told reporters in January, 'we know they've been used by the North Koreans.'

According to the Pentagon, North Korea probably has a long-standing chemical weapons program with the capability to produce nerve, blister, blood, and choking agents and likely possesses a chemical weapons stockpile that could be used with artillery and ballistic missiles.

Jong-nam went into exile shortly after he was arrested in May 2001 at a Tokyo airport for trying to enter the country on a false passport from the Dominican Republic under the under the name 'Pang Xiong' (Pictured, Jong-Nam is escorted by police in Tokyo as he boards a plane upon his deportation from Japan in May 2001)