N. Korea has up to 60 nuclear weapons and chemical weapons, says Pentagon

A recent U.S. Department of Defense report says North Korea has up to 60 nuclear weapons and the third most chemical weapons in the world. An analysis said a kilogram of anthrax that North Korea owns could kill some 50,000 people in Seoul.

According to media outlets including Voice of America on Tuesday, the Department of the Army under the Pentagon announced that North Korea owned 20 to 60 nuclear weapons and had the ability to produce six weapons every year in the “North Korean Tactics” report released on July 24. It also said North Korea could increase the number of nuclear weapons to 100 within this year.

The report said the North would not give up on nuclear weapons because late Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi was dethroned in 2011 after giving up nuclear weapons in 2003. The Pentagon does not believe that the North has a will to denuclearize even though Kim Jong Un promised “complete denuclearization” in meetings with South Korean and U.S. heads of state in 2018.

South Korean military insiders and those who are related believe that Pyongyang will accelerate manufacturing of 100 nuclear weapons to be recognized as a nuclear state. “Manufacturing 100 nuclear weapons is a matter of time considering uranium enrichment facilities in North Korea,” said a military insider.

The report says North Korea owns some 20 types of biochemical weapons that weigh 2,500 to 5,000 tons such as sarin gas and VX. This is the third most biochemical weapons owned by a country after the U.S. and Russia. “North Korea possibly has weaponized anthrax or smallpox that could be mounted on missiles for use,” the report said, adding that 1 kilogram of anthrax could kill up to 50,000 people in Seoul.

It also says the North maintains more than 6,000 hackers who are active in Belarus, China, India and other countries under its Cyber Warfare Guidance Unit, known as Bureau 121. It consists of four groups including Lazarus triggering social confusion, AndAriel collecting information from enemies, BlueNorOff carrying out finance cyber crimes and Electronic Warfare Jamming Regiment disturbing radars of enemies.


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