Fact Sheet

North Korea Biological Overview

North Korea Biological Overview

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Background

This page is part of the North Korea Country Profile.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), also known as North Korea, is a party to both the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and the Geneva Protocol. The DPRK is suspected of maintaining an ongoing biological weapons (BW) program in violation of its international commitments, but there is no definitive information about the program’s status.

According to North Korean defectors and assessments by the U.S. and South Korean governments, North Korea began acquiring a biological weapons capability as early as the 1960s under the orders of Kim Il-sung. 1 Unlike its chemical weapons (CW) program, Pyongyang is believed to have built its biological program indigenously. 2 The 2016 White Paper from South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) assesses that North Korea is able to indigenously cultivate a number of biological agents often used as weapons, including the causative agents of anthrax and smallpox 3 In 1997, North Korean Colonel Ju-Hwal Choi defected and testified that the Germ Research Institute of the Armed Forces Ministry is the DPRK’s lead organization for developing biological weapons. 4 However, due to the opacity of North Korea’s regime, there is no reliable up-to-date information on the organization responsible for developing biological weapons, or the status of its efforts.

Capabilities

Open source information provides a wide range of estimates on the state of North Korea’s biological weapons capabilities, from possession of a rudimentary biological warfare program to deployed biological weapons. Most recent estimates conclude that the DPRK possesses a range of pathogen samples that could be weaponized, and the technical capabilities to do so, rather than deployed, ready-to-use biological weapons. 5

Biological weapons programs are by their nature very difficult to monitor. Barring further information from Pyongyang, researchers can only estimate which causative agents might be included in North Korea’s inventory. Analysis of North Korea’s BW program has been based in part on defector testimony, which has led to varying accounts of North Korea’s capabilities and a high degree of uncertainty. Jane’s Sentinel Security Assessments suggests that the Korean People’s Army’s (KPA) inventory might include the causative agents: Bacillus anthracis (Anthrax), Clostridium botulinum (Botulism), Vibrio cholera (Cholera), Hantavirus (Korean Hemorrhagic Fever), Yersinia pestis (Plague), Variola (Smallpox), Salmonella typhi (Typhoid Fever) and Coquillettidia fuscopennata (Yellow Fever). 6 However, parliamentary audit documents of the MND assert that North Korea has developed more than 13 kinds of biological agents. In addition to those mentioned by Jane’s, they include Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, Entamoeba histolyca (Dysentery), Staphylococcus aureus (Staph), Rickettsia rickettsii (Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever), and T-2 mycotoxins (Alimentary Toxic Aleukia). 7

U.S. government assessments have frequently asserted that the DPRK possesses significant biological weapons capabilities. However, U.S. estimates are not always internally consistent, and recent versions have tended to downgrade earlier editions. The U.S. State Department’s 2014 report, “Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments,” states that “North Korea may still consider the use of biological weapons as an option, contrary to the BWC.” 8 South Korea’s 2016 National Defense White Paper asserts that “it appears that the North can independently cultivate and produce such biological weapons as the bacteria of anthrax, smallpox, and pest [plague].” 9

While the United States and Russia consider eliminating their stocks of variola virus (the causative agent of smallpox), a particular concern is the status of North Korea’s inventory. According to a May 1994 Defense Intelligence Agency report, which cited an anonymous source, Russia supplied variola virus to North Korea and Iraq sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s. 10 If true, this would violate Pyongyang’s commitments as a State Party to the BTWC, to which it acceded in March 1987. Because North Korea did not participate in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) smallpox eradication program, it is unknown whether it had any stocks of the variola virus, or if it did, whether the stocks were destroyed. 11

North Korea has demonstrated it may possess significant biotechnology expertise despite its poor industrial sector; for example, the country’s scientists reportedly developed a Hepatitis-B vaccine in 1999. 12 However, it is less clear whether North Korea is capable of weaponizing BW agents. Jane’s Intelligence Group notes that North Korean scientists used microencapsulation to protect Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) spores from UV light, which would be the first step in preparing the agent for weaponization. 13

Also, while the DPRK possesses considerable capabilities to deliver CW agents, it is unclear whether comparable munitions are available to deliver BW agents. Although the DPRK has advanced missile technology, the fragile nature of biological agents complicates the task of using missiles as a means of delivery and dispersal. In June 2015 the South Korean Defense Ministry asserted that, “North Korea has 13 types of BW agents which it can weaponize within ten days, and anthrax and smallpox are the likely agents it would deploy.” 14 In recent years, South Korea has reported an increasing number of small-sized drone infiltrations. 15 While the reported drones have all been surveillance drones, a high-level defector stated that he witnessed the mounting of undisclosed biological or chemical weapons on drones, and that the drones’ dispersal capabilities were tested on animal populations. 16 Defectors have accused the North Korean regime of testing biological agents on human subjects, but these claims cannot be independently substantiated. 17

History

Alleging (falsely) that the United States had used poisonous gases and bacteria against North Korean and Chinese forces during the Korean War, North Korean leader Kim Il-sung ordered the establishment of a biological weapons program in the early 1960s. 18 North Korea subsequently established the program within the Academy of National Defense. However, results from this program were unremarkable. An estimated 10 to 13 different types of pathogens were investigated during the early development process, including the causative agents of anthrax, cholera, plague, smallpox, and yellow fever. 19 Several defectors have alleged that the College for Army Doctors and Military Officers and Kim Il-sung University Medical College conducted human testing on political prisoners, although such assertions are difficult to verify. 20

Via entities in Japan and elsewhere, North Korea imported cultures of the causative agents for anthrax, plague and cholera. Actual production of BW agents, including the causative agents for cholera, typhus, tuberculosis, and anthrax, is believed to have begun in the early 1980s. Unlike the DPRK’s development of chemical weapons, its biological weapons development has been mostly indigenous. 21

Although international efforts to strengthen export controls and sanctions implementation have limited the DPRK’s ability to import dual-use equipment and supplies, the country has proven resourceful in securing materials from abroad. In 2006, for example, Japanese authorities discovered that the DPRK had obtained a freeze dryer—which could be used to freeze-dry pathogens—from a Tokyo-based trading company in 2002. 22 The DPRK also has sufficient stocks of growth media, including agar, peptone, and yeast extract from breweries, to support a BW program. 23

Recent Developments and Current Status


On 6 June 2015, state media showed Kim Jong Un touring the Pyongyang Biotechnical Institute, which is ostensibly dedicated to creating biopesticides. Expert imagery analyses of the facility and site construction showed that it has dual-use capabilities, and could be used (for example) to manufacture large batches of Bacillus anthracis (anthrax). 24 Many have interpreted publicity surrounding the Institute visit as North Korea’s response to a May 2015 incident in which the U.S. Army may have inadvertently shipped partially inactivated anthrax samples to South Korea, which North Korea viewed as an act of aggression. 25

While it is widely acknowledged that North Korea has the intent to develop biological weapons, it is still unclear if a bioweapons program exists or its phase of development. A 2017 analysis of North Korean biological weapons capabilities published by Harvard’s Belfer Center concludes that, while North Korea likely possesses several types of pathogens and dual-use facilities capable of biological agent production, the extent of weaponization and means of delivery are unknown. 26

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Glossary

Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)
The BTWC: The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BTWC) prohibits the development, production, or stockpiling of bacteriological and toxin weapons. Countries must destroy or divert to peaceful purposes all agents, toxins, weapons, equipment, and means of delivery within nine months after the entry into force of the convention. The BTWC was opened for signature on April 10, 1972, and entered into force on March 26, 1975. In 1994, the BTWC member states created the Ad Hoc Group to negotiate a legally binding BTWC Protocol that would help deter violations of the BTWC. The draft protocol outlines a monitoring regime that would require declarations of dual-use activities and facilities, routine visits to declared facilities, and short-notice challenge investigations. For additional information, see the BTWC.
Geneva Protocol
Geneva Protocol: Formally known as the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, this protocol prohibits the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous, or other gases, and bans bacteriological warfare. It was opened for signature on 17 June 1925. For additional information, see the Geneva Protocol.
Biological weapon (BW)
Biological weapons use microorganisms and natural toxins to produce disease in humans, animals, or plants.  Biological weapons can be derived from: bacteria (anthrax, plague, tularemia); viruses (smallpox, viral hemorrhagic fevers); rickettsia (Q fever and epidemic typhus); biological toxins (botulinum toxin, staphylococcus enterotoxin B); and fungi (San Joaquin Valley fever, mycotoxins). These agents can be deployed as biological weapons when paired with a delivery system, such as a missile or aerosol device.
Chemical Weapon (CW)
The CW: The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons defines a chemical weapon as any of the following: 1) a toxic chemical or its precursors; 2) a munition specifically designed to deliver a toxic chemical; or 3) any equipment specifically designed for use with toxic chemicals or munitions. Toxic chemical agents are gaseous, liquid, or solid chemical substances that use their toxic properties to cause death or severe harm to humans, animals, and/or plants. Chemical weapons include blister, nerve, choking, and blood agents, as well as non-lethal incapacitating agents and riot-control agents. Historically, chemical weapons have been the most widely used and widely proliferated weapon of mass destruction.
Anthrax
The common name of the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, as well as the name of the disease it produces.  A predominantly animal disease, anthrax can also infect humans and cause death within days.  B. anthracis bacteria can form hardy spores, making them relatively easy to disseminate.  Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the USSR/Russia have all investigated anthrax as a biological weapon, as did the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo.  Anthrax-laced letters were also used to attack the U.S. Senate and numerous news agencies in September 2001.  There is no vaccine available to the general public, and treatment requires aggressive administration of antibiotics.
Deployment
The positioning of military forces – conventional and/or nuclear – in conjunction with military planning.
Pathogen
Pathogen: A microorganism capable of causing disease.
Anthrax
The common name of the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, as well as the name of the disease it produces.  A predominantly animal disease, anthrax can also infect humans and cause death within days.  B. anthracis bacteria can form hardy spores, making them relatively easy to disseminate.  Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the USSR/Russia have all investigated anthrax as a biological weapon, as did the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo.  Anthrax-laced letters were also used to attack the U.S. Senate and numerous news agencies in September 2001.  There is no vaccine available to the general public, and treatment requires aggressive administration of antibiotics.
Botulinum Toxin
Botulism is caused by exposure to botulinum toxin (a neurotoxin).  Most often caused by eating contaminated foods, botulinum poisoning prevents the human nervous system from transmitting signals, resulting in paralysis, and eventually death by suffocation.  Botulinum toxin is the most toxic known substance. 15,000 times more toxic than VX nerve gas, mere nanograms of botulinum toxin will kill an adult human.  A significant bioweapons concern, botulinum toxin has been investigated as a weapon by Japan, the Soviet Union, the United States, Iraq and unsuccessfully by the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo. 
Cholera
Cholera: A disease of the digestive tract caused by the bacteria Vibrio cholerae. A water-borne disease, cholera infections usually occur via contaminated water or foods. Cholera causes severe diarrhea followed by severe dehydration, and can result in death within hours or days. Sanitation in the developed world has greatly lessened cholera’s public health impact. Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army used cholera against the Chinese military and civilian populations during World War II.
Plague
Plague: The disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. There are three forms of plague: bubonic plague, pneumonic plague, and septicemic plague. Bubonic plague refers to infection of the lymph nodes by Y. pestis, causing black sores or “buboes,” pneumonic plague refers to infection of the lungs, and septicemic plague refers to infection of the bloodstream. Although no longer a serious public health hazard in the developed world, the bacterium can spread from person-to-person in aerosolized form, and has been investigated as a biological weapon by Japan and the Soviet Union.
Typhoid fever
Typhoid fever: A disease spread through contaminated food, typhoid fever causes diarrhea and rash. While typhoid fever is now only a public health concern in developing countries, typhoid fever outbreaks during wartime have occurred numerous times. Caused by the bacterium Salmonella typhi, Japan investigated and allegedly used typhoid-based biological weapons during sabotage operations in World War II.
Yellow fever virus
The virus that causes Yellow fever, a viral hemorrhagic fever.  Yellow fever is naturally transmitted by mosquitoes, and remains common in many tropical and semi-tropical areas, particularly in Africa.  Yellow fever patients experience two disease phases.  The first brings flu-like symptoms while the second phase, or “toxic phase,” brings severe pain, vomiting, kidney failure, and bleeding from the mouth, eyes, and stomach.  While only 15 to 25 percent of patients will develop the toxic phase, half of those who do die.  Very little open literature about possible weaponization of Yellow fever virus exists.
Chemical Weapon (CW)
The CW: The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons defines a chemical weapon as any of the following: 1) a toxic chemical or its precursors; 2) a munition specifically designed to deliver a toxic chemical; or 3) any equipment specifically designed for use with toxic chemicals or munitions. Toxic chemical agents are gaseous, liquid, or solid chemical substances that use their toxic properties to cause death or severe harm to humans, animals, and/or plants. Chemical weapons include blister, nerve, choking, and blood agents, as well as non-lethal incapacitating agents and riot-control agents. Historically, chemical weapons have been the most widely used and widely proliferated weapon of mass destruction.
Deployment
The positioning of military forces – conventional and/or nuclear – in conjunction with military planning.
Export control
National laws or international arrangements established to restrict the sale of certain goods to certain countries, or to ensure that safeguards or end-use guarantees are applied to the export and sale of sensitive and dual-use technologies and materials. See entry for Dual-use
Sanctions
Punitive measures, for example economic in nature, implemented in response to a state's violation of its international obligations.
Dual-use item
An item that has both civilian and military applications. For example, many of the precursor chemicals used in the manufacture of chemical weapons have legitimate civilian industrial uses, such as the production of pesticides or ink for ballpoint pens.

Sources

  1. "North Korea's Chemical and Biological Weapons Programs," International Crisis Group, June 18, 2009, www.crisisgroup.org.
  2. Eric Croddy with Perez Armendariz and John Hart, Chemical and Biological Warfare: A Comprehensive Survey for the Concerned Citizen, (New York: Springer-Verlag, 2002).
  3. Republic of Korea, Ministry of National Defense, "2012 Defense White Paper," p. 36, www.mnd.go.kr.
  4. Ju-Hwal Choi, “Testimony of Colonel Ju-Hwal Choi, Colonel of KPA, before 105th Congress, Sess. 1, North Korean Missile Proliferation," 1997, p.8.
  5. Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense, "2016 Defense White Paper," (English Translation), p. 34, www.mnd.go.kr.Office of the Secretary of Defense, “Military and Security Developments Involving the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Report to Cognress (2015) p21, www.defense.gov.
  6. "Strategic Weapon System, Korea, North," Jane's Sentinel Security Assessment, July 5, 2010.
  7. Kim Nam-gwon, "김옥이 "군, 北생화학무기 배신 전무 [Kim Ok-i Said 'Korean Military does not have vaccine for North Korean Biochemical Weapons']" Yonhap News, October 3, 2010, www.yonhapnews.co.kr.
  8. U.S. Department of State, "Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments," August 2011, www.state.gov.
  9. Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense, "2016 Defense White Paper," (English Translation), p. 34, www.mnd.go.kr.
  10. William J. Broad and Judith Miller, "Government Report Says 3 Nations Hide Stocks of Smallpox," The New York Times, June 13, 1999, p. 1.
  11. "Smallpox Eradication: Destruction of Variola Virus Stocks," Report by the Secretariat, 52nd World Health Assembly, Provisional Agenda Item 13, April 15, 1999, http://apps.who.int.
  12. Park Dong-sam, "북한의 전략무기개발 어디까지 왔나? [How Far Has the DPRK's Development of Strategic Weapons Come?]" Pukhan (Seoul), January 1999.
  13. Andy Oppenheimer, ed., Jane's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense 2008-2009, August 2008, pp. 30-31, http://janes-store.ihs.com.
  14. Hyu-Kyung Kim, Elizabeth Phillip and Hattie Chung, North Korea’s Biological Weapons Program: The Known and Unknown, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, October 2017.
  15. Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense, "2016 Defense White Paper," (English Translation), p. 34, www.mnd.go.kr.
  16. Guy Taylor, “North Korea attack drones carrying biological, chemical weapons can strike Seoul within 1 hour,” The Washington Times, 22 May 2017, www.thewashingtontimes.com.
  17. Michelle Florcruz, “Under Kim Jong Un, North Korea Tested Chemical Weapons On Disabled Children, Defector Claims,” International Business Times, June 7, 2015, www.ibtimes.com.
  18. Ha Tae-won, "[시안화나트륨 北반입]北 화학무기 2500-5000t 보유 [(North imported sodium cyanide) North has 2500-5000t of CW]" Donga Ilbo, 24 September 2004, www.donga.com.
  19. Eric Croddy with Perez Armendariz and John Hart, Chemical and Biological Warfare: A Comprehensive Survey for the Concerned Citizen, (New York: Springer-Verlag, 2002).
  20. "Strategic Weapon System, Korea, North," Jane's Sentinel Security Assessment, July 5, 2010.
  21. "2008 Defense White Paper" (English Translation), Republic of Korea, Ministry of National Defense, May 2009, p. 30, www.mnd.go.kr.
  22. Kim Cheol-hoon, "'생물무기 전용가능 동결 건조기' 김정일 직계기업이 日서 수입 [Kim Jong-il's lineal company imported lyophilizer, which is transformable to biological weapon from Japan]" Hankuk Ilbo, p.2, August 11, 2006, www.kinds.or.kr; "DPRK Probably Produced Centrifuge to Produce Biological Agents," U.S. Army Asian Studies Detachment, November 22, 2006, in OSC document JPP20071005137003.
  23. Andy Oppenheimer, ed., Jane's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense 2008-2009, August 2008, pp. 30-31, http://janes-store.ihs.com.
  24. Melissa Hanham, “Kim Jong Un Tours Pesticide Facilitiy Capable of Producing Biological Weapons: A 38 North Special Report,” 38 North, July 9, 2015, www.38north.org.
  25. Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley, “Potemkin or real? North Korea’s biological weapons program,” Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, 18 July 2017, www.thebulletin.org.
  26. Hyun-Kyung Kim, Elizabeth Philipp, Hattie Chung, North Korea’s Biological Weapons Program, the Known and Unknown, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, October 2017, www.belfercenter.org.

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