North Korea is producing viruses and bacteria for germ warfare programme and already has an arsenal capable of causing chaos and terror in the region, US report claims

North Korea is producing viruses and bacteria for its germ warfare program, which already has an arsenal capable of causing chaos and terror in the region, according to a US report.

In its latest assessment of Pyongyang’s weapons of mass destruction, the US said the mysterious state ruled by Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has developed sprays and “poison pens” that can spread deadly diseases.

The weapons are believed to be designed to spread pathogens such as smallpox and anthrax, which some experts say are more dangerous than Kim Jong Un’s nuclear weapons program.

The weapons are believed to be designed to spread pathogens such as smallpox and anthrax, which some experts say are more dangerous than Kim Jong Un’s nuclear weapons program.

The report from the US State Department, which monitors foreign governments’ compliance with arms control obligations, said: ‘The United States believes that the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] has a dedicated offensive at the BW national level [biological weapons] program.

‘The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has the capacity to produce biological agents for military purposes [and] the technical ability to produce bacteria, viruses and toxins that can be used as BW agents. The DPRK also has the ability to genetically engineer biological products.”

It added: “Pyongyang is likely able to arm BW operatives with unconventional systems such as sprayers and poison pen injection devices, which have been deployed by the DPRK for the delivery of chemical weapons and which could be used to covertly target BW operatives to deliver.’

The reclusive state has been a party to the Biological Weapons Convention since 1987 and evidence gathered over time shows that the country has the will and scientific capacity to create biological weapons.

North Korea has never admitted to possessing biological weapons and reliable intelligence from within is difficult to obtain.

Their founder, leader Kim Il-sung, understood as early as the 1980s that “poisonous gases and bacteria can be effectively used in wars.”

In 1993, Russian intelligence concluded that North Korea was testing biological weapons on offshore islands and using universities and medical institutes to research anthrax, cholera, bubonic plague and smallpox.

A photo of Kim Jong Un released by North Korea’s official news agency shows him inspecting the first test flight of Hwasongpho-16B – a solid-fuel tactical ballistic missile – on April 2.

Guard posts and fences seen on a hill on North Korea’s border with Russia and China

This was confirmed in the US by the then head of the CIA, James Woolsey.

Defectors who have left North Korea claim that tests on political prisoners are taking place there, but such claims are impossible to confirm.

The production of germ weapons has the potential to be extremely secret and takes place in ordinary laboratories that can also be used for harmless research, a stark comparison to the production of nuclear warheads which is more difficult to conceal.

According to state media, Kim Jong Un visited a pesticide factory in 2015 that may also have the capacity to make biological agents.

The US assessment report comes as United Nations diplomats in New York struggle to monitor the Security Council’s sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

The ‘Panel of Experts’ has issued numerous reports naming companies and governments that have allowed violations of sanctions, whether through negligence or collusion.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, spoke to a group of young North Korean defectors at the American Diplomacy House in Seoul on Tuesday

Now Russia has blocked the extension of the panel’s mandate, which expires at the end of this month.

Moscow – a member of the Security Council – originally supported and voted for the sanctions when they were first imposed.

But now, in a blatant violation of those sanctions, they are using North Korean weapons, including artillery shells, to attack Ukraine.

Other Security Council member states that still support the sanctions are now considering an alternative.

One possibility is a new institution created by the UN General Assembly, instead of the Security Council.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, visited Seoul on Tuesday to discuss the issue with the South Korean government.