North Korea has a store of lethal diseases that it could attach to missiles and fire into enemy countries in the event of war, a study has revealed.
Researchers believe the aggressive dictatorship has biological weapons factories containing the likes of anthrax, botulism, cholera, typhoid, yellow fever, typhus, smallpox and even the plague.
The totalitarian Stalinist regime could ‘weaponise’ the diseases by attaching them to missiles, bombs or spraying planes.
Anton Morozov claimed to have seen calculations showing the missile can range the US West Coast and that North Korea can bring a nuclear warhead back to earth intact (pictured, Kim Jong Un inspects what purports to be a hydrogen bomb)
North Korea is preparing to launch another missile ‘in the nearest future’, according to Russian lawmaker Anton Morozov who recently returned from a trip to Pyongyang
The new report – by intelligence firm AMPLYFI and Harvard University – is based on the mining of data from 840,000 websites mentioning biological weapons, of which 23,000 were linked to North Korea.
Titled ‘North Korea’s Biological Weapons Program’, the research – first reported by The Mirror – suggests the pariah state could ‘produce military-style batches of biological weapons – specifically anthrax’.
The study goes on: ‘The most recent statement by the South Korean Defence Ministry is that North Korea has 13 types of biological weapons which it can weaponise within ten days.
‘And anthrax and smallpox are the likely agents it would deploy.’
The report also shows that – given its history of ‘treating people as expendable entities’ and based on defectors’ testimony – North Korea uses humans to test the barbaric weapons.
It also claims the weaponising of biological agents by the regime goes back to the 1980s, with North Korean troops long vaccinated against smallpox.
South Korea has previously said its benighted neighbour has three main biological weapons factories.
The report concludes by warning against ‘complacency’ and stresses that efforts should be made ‘to combat any potential emerging bioweapons threat which may arise in the form of bioterrorism or in an all-out conflict’.
It comes after a Russian lawmaker who just returned from a visit to Pyongyang said North Korea is preparing to launch another missile ‘in the nearest future’.
Anton Morozov, of the nationalist Liberal-Democratic Party, added that he has seen calculations showing the missile can hit the US West Coast.
Mr Morozov also said the North Koreans told him they have technology that would allow them to bring a warhead back down to earth intact.
Donald Trump discussed North Korea with his generals on Thursday before telling reporters it was ‘the calm before the storm’. Asked what storm, he replied: ‘You’ll see’
The Party Foundation Anniversary, in which North Koreans celebrate the founding of their ruling communist party, is due to take place on Tuesday next week.
Monday is also Columbus Day in the US, meaning any potential launch would be very likely to happen on either of those two days.
Kim Jong Un usually times missile tests to coincide with American public holidays to ensure maximum media coverage.
The last major test conducted on a public holiday was a missile launch on the 4th of July, which Kim said was ‘a gift for the American b*******’.
Kim threatened to tame President Trump ‘with fire’ in an unprecedented personal address last month, calling him a ‘mentally deranged dotard’
The news comes after President Trump discussed the North Korean situation with military leaders on Thursday, describing the moment as ‘the calm before the storm’.
When quizzed by reporters about what he meant, Trump said: ‘You’ll find out.’
The news also comes after Kim threatened to tame Donald Trump ‘with fire’ after the President threatened to ‘totally destroy’ North Korea in a speech to the UN.
In an unprecedented personal address to President Trump, Kim said the US would ‘pay dearly’ adding that North Korea ‘will consider with seriousness exercising of a corresponding, highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history.’
He added: ‘I am now thinking hard about what response he could have expected when he allowed such eccentric words to trip off his tongue.
‘I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire.’
North Korea has previously released images of what it claimed was a ‘fire plan’ for an attack on the US military base on Guam.
Kim was said to have reviewed the plans but decided not to attack.
Few international observers believe the North would actually attack the US or an allied country because there is no possibility it could win a war with America.
But Ri Yong Ho, North Korea’s Foreign Minister, raised another prospect – that the hermit nation could land a warhead in the Pacific Ocean.
Such a demonstration would prove that they have a viable nuclear weapon, without necessarily prompting American military action.
North Korea has previously released images of what it claimed was a ‘fire plan’ for an attack on the US military base on Guam. Pictured: The country’s dictator
Kim believes securing such a weapon, and proving to the international community that it works, is the key to ensuring his regime’s survival.
Most experts agree that the North already has a missile capable of ranging most of the US, the Hwasong-14, which they have successfully tested multiple times.
Kim has also claimed to have a powerful hydrogen bomb that is small enough to fit on top of the missile, after the state carried out a sixth successful nuclear test earlier this year.
The final hurdle is in perfecting re-entry technology that would bring the warhead back to earth intact and on target.
It is not believed the North currently possesses this technology, as re-entry vehicles from previous Hwasong-14 tests were shown falling back into the ocean in flames.