N. Korea has 13 types of readily usable biological weapons: lawmaker

By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea is believed to possess 13 types of viruses
and germs that it can readily use in the event of a conflict, a South Korean
lawmaker said Monday, citing a defense ministry report.

The country is believed to be one of the world's largest possessors of chemical
and biological weapons. South Korea suspects the communist neighbor has up to
5,000 tons of chemical agents.
Citing figures provided by the Ministry of National Defense during a
parliamentary audit, Rep. Kim Ock-lee said the list of diseases that could be
caused by North Korean biological weapons includes cholera, pest, yellow fever,
smallpox, eruptive typhus, typhoid fever and dysentery.
"North Korea has the capability to independently culture and produce these germs
in the event of a conflict," the Grand National Party lawmaker said in a release.
Since North Korea's founding leader, Kim Il-sung, called for the development of
chemical weapons in 1961, the communist state has actively sought the expansion
of related facilities, South Koreans officials say.
A U.S. media report said last year that the North is thought to be producing
biological weapons at over 20 facilities while another dozen churn out chemical
ones, including sarin, mustard gas and hydrogen cyanide.
Pyongyang denies that it has or is producing any chemical weapons.
samkim@yna.co.kr
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