December 20, 2001; New intelligence, regarded as "irrefutable", has
confirmed that North Korea does indeed have weaponized smallpox. (It
was officially thought that only the US and Russia had "reference samples".
It is also thought that Iran may have samples and could have worked on
weaponizing them.) North Korea's Army is the only army in the world with
mandatory smallpox vaccinations.--Stephen V Cole
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It's sometimes kind of strange how 9/11 reorganized everyone's priorities; this probably would have been major news had it come out a few months ago, but I guess everyone's got bigger things to talk about now. I remember this was one of the issues that first led me to StrategyPage (NBC proliferation in general, not North Korea specifically). Times have changed, I guess.
Anyway, on to my usual round of questions.
How secure are North Korea's military facilities? Obviously, North Korea possessing these weapons at all is concerning, but the possibility of other groups (states or otherwise) getting their hands on weaponized smallpox is extremely unsettling, to say the least. Would Pyongyang be willing to sell such advanced technology?
Also, once weapons-grade smallpox is produced, how complicated is it to move/store? That can't be the kind of thing you just put in a Thermos and throw in your luggage.
Also, does anyone have any additional information on the sidenote that Iran has a similar program underway? How far along is that program?
I've never understood North Korea, but then again, I can't exactly say I've been there. Still, they've got a fairly educated population, reasonable energy reserves (coal and hydroelectric power), coastline, and at least some physical infrastructure. With all that, they manage to produce widespread food shortages, a per-capita GDP of about $1000 (with the average civilian likely making substantially less) ... and nuclear and biological weapons. Oh well. I guess that's why they say that you see more of the real world by looking out your door than by looking in your textbook.
--Phoenix Rising |