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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| 'North Korea possesses 13 types of biological weapons' |
| 2009-10-06 |
| North Korea is thought to have 13 types of viruses and germs which can be used in biological weapons, as well as up to 5,000 tons of chemical weapons, South Korea's defence ministry said Monday. In a report to parliament, the ministry said the communist North has one of the world's largest stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons. The list of diseases that could be caused by the biological weapons includes cholera, yellow fever, smallpox, eruptive typhus, typhoid fever and dysentery, it said. The ministry estimated its neighbour's stockpile of chemical weapons at between 2,500 to 5,000 tons. The assertions that the North has chemical and biological weapons, in addition to its nuclear and conventional weaponry, are not new. But Monday's report gave more details of the alleged biological arsenal. The International Crisis Group said in a report in June that Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities are the greatest threat, but it also has a large chemical weapons stockpile and a suspected biological weapons programme. The chemical weapons could be deliverable by artillery or missile to cause massive civilian casualties in South Korea, the Brussels-based think-tank said. The stockpile includes between 2,500-5,000 tons of mustard gas, phosgene, blood agents, sarin, tabun and persistent nerve agents and can be delivered by long-range artillery, missiles, aircraft and naval vessels, it said. Nuclear sites: The South Korean defence minister said his country knows of about 100 sites linked to North Korea's nuclear programme and has the capacity to strike them if an attack from the North is imminent, the defence minister said Monday. "There are about 100 sites related to the nuclear" programme, Kim Tae-Young told legislators during a parliamentary audit of his ministry's work. "We have a complete list of them," Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying. Kim expressed confidence his forces could hit any of them "if it is absolutely clear a North Korean offensive is imminent." Similar comments by Kim last month drew criticism from the North's official cabinet newspaper Minju Josun. South Korea seized and searched containers shipped by North Korea on a Panama-registered freighter last month but found no suspicious cargo, reports said on Monday. Security authorities on September 22 launched a joint inspection of the ship, which was docked in the southern port of Busan after arriving from China, Yonhap news agency said. The communist North and capitalist South have remained technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended only in an armistice and not a peace treaty. The North has conducted two atomic weapons tests since 2006. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 13 types of biological weapons 1. kimchee farts 2. unwashed soldiers 3. Dear Leaders diapers and so on |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2009-10-06 13:59 |
| #3 North Korea is thought to have 13 types of viruses and germs which can be used in biological weapons and those are just the ones isolated from Dear Leader's STDs! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2009-10-06 10:12 |
| #2 I see Anthrax shots and Atropine injectors the only 'preconditions' necessary for 'Hope & Change' discussions by the administration. |
| Posted by: Besoeker in Duitsland 2009-10-06 08:16 |
| #1 If they have smallpox the Russians gave it to them. Russia was allowed to keep smallpox after its eradication in the wild. |
| Posted by: Grunter 2009-10-06 07:34 |