North Korean soldiers wearing gas masks during a parade on Oct. 10, 2020 | Image: KCTV
North Korea has amassed a “significant inventory” of chemical weapons and likely possesses enough nukes to conduct electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attacks, according to a new joint report from leading U.S. and South Korean think tanks.
The report, published Tuesday by the RAND Corporation’s National Security Research Division and the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies, states that the DPRK likely possesses between 2,500 to 5,000 tons of chemical warfare agents, including chlorine gas, cyanide, sarin and VX. If deployed in ideal conditions, the report estimates that a 1,000-kilogram sarin attack could kill as many as 125,000 people in South Korea — the same estimate they place on a 12.5-kiloton nuclear air blast over the ROK.
North Korea has amassed a “significant inventory” of chemical weapons and likely possesses enough nukes to conduct electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attacks, according to a new joint report from leading U.S. and South Korean think tanks.
The report, published Tuesday by the RAND Corporation’s National Security Research Division and the Seoul-based Asan Institute for Policy Studies, states that the DPRK likely possesses between 2,500 to 5,000 tons of chemical warfare agents, including chlorine gas, cyanide, sarin and VX. If deployed in ideal conditions, the report estimates that a 1,000-kilogram sarin attack could kill as many as 125,000 people in South Korea — the same estimate they place on a 12.5-kiloton nuclear air blast over the ROK.
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Ethan Jewell is a Seoul-based correspondent for NK News focused on sanctions, trade and maritime issues. He previously worked as an investigations and intelligence specialist for Pinkerton Comprehensive Risk Management and as a research intern for the Brookings Institution's Center for East Asia Policy Studies.