Other Names: February 25th Plant (2月25日工場), Chŏngju No. 25 Plant (定州25號工場) 225 Plant (225 工場)
Location: Chŏngju (定州市), North P’yong’an Province (平安北道), North Korea
Subordinate to: 5th Machine Industry Bureau (第5機械總局), Second Economic Committee (第2經濟委員會), National Defense Commission (國防委員會)
Primary Function: Production of biological warfare (BW) agents
Description: Following Kim Il Sung’s November 1980 order to develop biological and chemical weapons, North Korea accelerated its biological weapons development by deploying special personnel to the No. 25 Factory, the Microbiological Institute (微生物硏究所),and the Medical Institute (醫學硏究所). The No. 25 Factory is reportedly a site for biological weapons production. According to a 1992 report by South Korea’s Agency for National Security Planning (國家安全企劃部), North Korea produces 13 types of BW agents, such as bacillus anthracis (anthrax), cholera, typhoid bacillus and plague bacteria at the No. 25 Factory, the Party Central Biological Research Institute (黨中央生物硏究所), and the Preventive Military Medical Unit (豫防軍事醫療部隊). The report says that these BW agents are sent to the Munch’ŏn Agar Factory (文川寒天工場) for weaponization.
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Updated July 2003 |
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Key Sources:
Yi Son-ho, “North Korea’s Technology for the Development of Weapons of Mass Destruction and Its Ability,” Pukhan, November 1998, pp. 38-51, in “Monthly on DPRK Weapons of Mass Destructio (sic),” FBIS Document FTS19981121000245; “Pukhan, Tokkasŭsegyunmugi Shilch’ŏnbaech’i/Yangsanch’eje…2 Paek 50t Poyu,” Chosun Ilbo, 23 June 1990, p. 2, in KINDS, <http://www.kinds.or.kr>; “Pukhan, Saenghwagangmugi Poyu/Angimu/Kukkamjaryo/P’esŭ’t’ŭ cholera Tŭng 13 Chong,” Chosun Ilbo, 24 October 1992, p. 2, in KINDS, <http://www.kinds.or.kr>; Kim Wŏn Pong and Osamu Mitsuhuji, Saishin Chosenhanto Gunjijohono Zenbo (Tokyo: Kodansya, 2000) p. 52; Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr., “Exposing the North Korean BW Arsenal,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, August 1998, p. 29.
