Evolution of poison

Agrippina the Younger, mother of the Roman emperor Nero, is probably one of the most infamous human figures in the history who borrowed poison to kill an enemy. After poisoning her husband, she was not afraid of using poison to kill anyone to clear a way for his son to succeed the Roman emperor Claudius, who was her uncle. She used poison to kill the wife of Claudius to get married to him. She even poisoned Claudius’ son Britannicus and Claudius in the end. She used arsenic to dispose of her enemies. Arsenic has sweet taste and thus is easy to hide when it is mixed with food. A small amount of arsenic is not strong enough to kill a person, but incremental intake of arsenic together with food will do harm eventually. In particular, it looks like a natural death without any hint at the use of poison. Arsenic was the main component of poison given by the King of the previous dynasties in Korea.

Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein also used poison to kill enemies and opponents of the regime. It has been reported that he used thallium sulfate to kill tens of religious leaders and overseas dissidents while he was in charge of national security. The tasteless thallium sulfate is soluble in water. Moreover, symptoms of thallium sulfate poisoning only appear after a certain amount of time even after taking a fatal dose of the poison. On top of it, Russians use radioactive poison. “Polonium-210” was discovered in the urine sample of a former Russian secret agent who had died after suffering from stomachache in the U.K. in 2006.

Unlike other means of homicide, death caused by poisoning can be disguised as natural death. In the past, poison was easy to obtain, and it was hard to find evidence of poisoning when poison was mixed with food or beverage. That was the reason why poison was sometimes called “friend of murderer.” Many people lost their lives from poisoning and unfortunately it has been difficult to prove it. However, the age of poisoning is almost over. It is extremely difficult for ordinary citizens to acquire poison. In addition, an autopsy discovers poisoning death easily.

After attacked by poison at Malaysian airport, Kim Jong Nam, older half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, walked toward the information desk and was escorted to the medical center by an airport staff. He was conscious for two and a half minutes after the poison attack. For Kim’s assassination, it took 30 minutes from the sudden attack to death. Autopsy results have not shown any evidence of medicine or poison yet in Kim’s body. North Korea repeatedly claims that he died naturally. It has been suggested that North Korea used a new poison to kill Kim and that the poison becomes effective only after a certain amount of time and leaves no trace in the body. Science develops, but it seems undoubtable that it creates some negative impact.

shchung@donga.com