POISONED PENS, SPRAYS: US REPORT FLAGS NORTH KOREA DEVELOPING GERM WARFARE PROGRAMME

The US State Department has warned that North Korea is developing lethal bacteria and viruses as part of the country's biological weapons (BW) programme, according to a report.

According to a UK-based The Times report, in its annual assessment, the US officials said that the reclusive state has developed sprays and 'poison pens' as a means of spreading deadly diseases.

The report titled "Adherence and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments" shifts its emphasis away from North Korea's nuclear program to concentrate more on weaponry intended for biological warfare, such as anthrax and smallpox dissemination.

The report highlights North Korea's consistent attention to its biological weapons program.

"The United States assesses that the DPRK has a dedicated, national level offensive BW program. The DPRK has the capability to produce biological agents for military purposes. The DPRK has the technical capability to produce bacteria, viruses, and toxins that could be used as BW agents," the report posted on State Department's website said.

"Pyongyang probably is capable of weaponising BW agents with unconventional systems such as sprayers and poison pen injection devices, which have been deployed by the DPRK for delivery of chemical weapons and could be used to covertly deliver BW agents," it added.

"The DPRK also has the capability to genetically engineer biological products with technologies such as CRISPR, which have been reported by its State Academy of Sciences and other sources," the report said.

CRISPR is an acronym for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats. It is a technology used to selectively edit genes.

Biological weapons release disease-causing organisms or toxins to harm or kill humans, animals or plants. Agents such as anthrax can cause disease and death. It is thought that North Korea has had BW capabilities since the 1960s.

With inputs from agencies

2024-04-19T05:43:14Z dg43tfdfdgfd