As part of a "heavy industry," chemicals are a key component to the command socialist economy in the DPRK, in which all production is under governmental control. With the emphasis of an economy based on military preparedness, it is not an exaggeration to say that all chemical production (as well as other segments of heavy industry) is militarized in the DPRK. Despite numerous reports alleging large-scale CW production, the extent to which chemicals are diverted or produced for chemical warfare in North Korea is not clear.

Based on the politics of his personality cult and emperor-like succession, Kim Jong Il and his military advisors have complete control over policy and procedure for production of armaments. The highest decision-making body in the DPRK for the military industry is the National Defense Commission (NDC), of which Kim Jong Il was "re-elected" chairman in 1998. Directly subordinate to the NDC is the Second Economic Committee (SEC), which, despite its innocuous-sounding name, is the linchpin for much of North Korean development and production of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. Created in the 1970s, the SEC is in charge of the planning, manufacturing, and distribution of all ordnance in the DPRK, including international trade in munitions. Located in Kangdong-kun, Pyongyang, the SEC consists of eight bureaus and 190 munitions factories; in spring 2001, its directors were Kim Man Ch'ŏl and Chŏn Byŏng Ho, both NDC and Korean Worker's Party Central Committee members. The eight bureaus consist of a general affairs office, with seven others dealing specifically with a variety of weapons platforms and technologies:

• machine industry bureau: small arms and ammunition
• machine industry bureau: tanks and armored personnel carriers (APCs)
• machine industry bureau: multi-stage rockets
• machine industry bureau: guided missiles
• machine industry bureau: nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons
• machine industry bureau: battleships and submarines
• machine industry bureau: production and purchase of war planes

With regard to North Korean chemical and biological (CB) weaponry, the Fifth Machine Industry Bureau is of most relevance. From an organizational perspective, the Ministry of Chemical Industry is actually separate from this line of command, but presumably is in coordination with production and transfer of chemical intermediates for CW agent manufacture.

Requirements are established by the Second Economic Committee, while the actual production of CW agents is carried out under the directive of the Fifth Machine Industry bureau. The filling, storage, and handling of munitions is carried out under the auspices of the Nuclear and Chemical Defense Bureau (NCDB) 핵 , 화학방위국 (核 , 化學防衛局). Directly subordinate to the General Staff Department 인민군총참부 (人民軍總參部), the NCDB is responsible for defensive and offensive CW operations.

The Kanggye and Sakchu munitions plants represent the meeting of nominally civilian chemical enterprises, under the titles of the Second Economic Committee's General Machine Industry Bureau and the Equipment Department of the NCDB. At Kanggye and Sakchu, CW agents brought from the Fifth Machine Industry Bureau are filled into artillery (including mortar and artillery rocket) shells, which are requisitioned from the Third Machine Industry Bureau. Reportedly, chemical spray tanks and aerial munitions are also prepared at Sakchu and Kanggye, and can be filled with CW agent from bulk storage at various airfields right before their use in wartime. Also associated with the offensive part of the chemical weapons apparatus, Factory No. 279 is responsible for defensive material, including decontamination chemicals, protective suits, and detection equipment.

Following their final assembly and filling, chemical munitions are brought to "store offices" at the Maram Materials Corporation and the Chiha-ri Chemical Corporation, located in Maram-dong, Pyongyang and Anbyŏn-kun, Kangwŏn Province, respectively. Reportedly, North Korean chemical weapons stores are placed into underground tunnels, with bulk CW agents stored in large (12' high) tanks, along with CW defense equipment supplied from Factory No. 279.

Comprising seven different units, the NCDB is actively involved in the research and development of weapons, as well as nuclear and chemical defense. These are divided into the following departments: operations, training, materials, technology, reconnaissance, section No. 32, and mining/underground facility operations. No. 32--an organization of which very little is known--has been linked with research and development of chemical weapons and perhaps specialized warheads for chemical delivery on the Nodong-1. Three additional research institutes (연구소=硏究所)--No. 55, No. 710, and No. 398--also operate under the aegis of the NCDB. Apparently, No. 710 research institute is involved in laser-related technology, possibly for weapons applications, with a research staff of about 250. With approximately 250 researchers, the No. 398 research institute is involved in decontamination operations in both nuclear and chemical environments and is reportedly developing antidotes, masks, and suits. The No. 55 research institute has about 70 on its research staff and is responsible for simulating nuclear and chemical contamination for decontamination operations and training.

According to a 2002 ROK-based article, North Korea operates the following chemical troops: battalion (army corps), battery (division), and platoon (regiment). At last count (1999), the NCDB consisted of 13,000 personnel. The NCDB has its own department of operations, consisting of eight battalions. Two of these battalions, the 17th and 18th, are considered active, while the remaining (13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 37th and 38th) are on reserve. Some of the billets for these battalions have been identified in the open literature:

• NCDB (reserve) Sunch'ŏn Vinalon Complex
• NCDB (reserve) Namhung Youth Chemical Complex
• NCDB (active) Onjŏng-ri, Sŏngch'ŏn-gun
• NCDB (active) Sŏk'am-ri, P'yŏngwŏn-gun
• NCDB (reserve) Sariwŏn Potash Fertilizer Complex

The 18th Nuclear Chemical Defense Battalion consists of six companies. According to the Segye Ilbo, there are two active duty battalions and six reserve battalions. Lee Ch'ung Kuk, a defector who claims to have served with the 18th Battalion, has diagrammed the locations of Factory No. 279 and the No. 398 Research Institute as below in the "Sŏg'am-ri Recruit Training Center Facilities."

	Updated March 2003

Key Sources:
Pak Tong-sam (from the ROK Agency for Defense Development), "How Far Has the DPRK's Development of Strategic Weapons Come?" Pukhan, January 1999, pp. 62-71, translated in FBIS Document ID: FTS19990121001655; "State of DPRK Defense Industry Viewed," Tong-a Ilbo (Internet version) in English, 5 February 2001, transcribed in FBIS Document ID: KPP20010205000105; Table 8.2, DPRK chemical warfare facilities, in Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr., The Armed Forces of North Korea (New York: I. B. Tauris Publishers, 2001), p. 225; Ch'oe Yong-chae, "US Strategy Pressuring DPRK on Biological, Chemical Weapon," Sindong-a (Seoul) in Korean, 1 January 2002, pp. 300-313, translated in FBIS: KPP20011220000016; "State of DPRK Defense Industry Viewed," Tong-a Ilbo (Internet version) in English, 5 February 2001, transcribed in FBIS Document ID: KPP20010205000105; Pak Hon-ok, "DPRK Military Policy in 2000," Pukan, 1 December 2000, pp. 66-75, translated in FBIS, Document ID: KPP20001212000032; Yi Ch'ung Kuk, "Assignment to Antinuclear/Antiatomic Analysis Team," in the book "Kim Chong-il's Nuclear Weapons and Army," Kin Seinichi no Kaku to Guntai in Japanese, 21 September 1994, pp. 101-110.