The Department of State informed that the U.S. has imposed sanctions on North Korea for using a chemical weapon to assassinate Kim Jong-nam, the brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in February 2017, reported RIA Novosti news agency of Russia.

“These sanctions are in addition to existing U.S. comprehensive sanctions against targeting unlawful North Korean activities,” reads the press statement by the U.S. Department of State. “The sanctions took effect upon publication of this determination in the Federal Register on March 5, 2018.”

According to the statement, on February 22, 2018, the United States determined that the “Government of North Korea used the chemical warfare agent VX to assassinate Kim Jong Nam, in the Kuala Lumpur airport.”

“The United States strongly condemns the use of chemical weapons to conduct an assassination,” the press statement also reads. “This public display of contempt for universal norms against chemical weapons use further demonstrates the reckless nature of North Korea and underscores that we cannot afford to tolerate a North Korean WMD [weapon of mass destruction] program of any kind.”