As much as 76,000 tons of South Korean-made sodium cyanide was found to have been exported to China and Malaysia over the past six years.

The figure holds disturbing implications, following a recent report confirming that some one-hundred tons of South Korean-originated sodium cyanide was confirmed to have been imported by North Korea via China and Malaysia.

A report submitted to the National Assembly by the Korea Customs Service showed the amount of the toxic chemical exported to China and Malaysia from 1998 to last year is tallied at 74,000 and 3,500 tons resepectively.

Rep. Song Young-seon, a member of the parlimentary committee on national defense, pointed out that sodium cyanide imported into the communist state could possibly be used to produce chemical weapons.

He urged the government to regard the recent revelations as a wake-up call and to prevent similar incidents by close coordinating with authorities of the third countries involved.

Sodium cyanide is normally used in fertilizers. However, treated with acids, it can be transmuted into sarin, a nerve agent that can cause loss of consciousness, paralysis and even death.