The North Korean military is conducting tests to place weaponized anthrax virus into warheads on ICBMs, according to a report in Japanese media.
The Asahi newspaper reported the information based on an unidentified source within South Korea’s intelligence apparatus.
The paper said that part of the testing involves assurances that the anthrax is capable of surviving the immense temperatures that are generated when an ICBM reenters the earth’s atmosphere.
Pyongyang is believed to possess anywhere from 2,500 to 5,000 tones of chemical and biological weapons. Also, the country is believed capable of mass-producing biological agents like anthrax and smallpox, South Korean intelligence has said in the past.
“North Korea — a country that starves its own people — has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons that could threaten our homeland,” the report said.
The Asahi report comes a day after President Donald Trump released his national security strategy, which says that North Korea is “pursuing chemical and biological weapons which could also be delivered by missile.” [source]
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