North Korea Weapons Of Mass Destruction Essay

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) Weapons of Mass Destruction
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) was established 9 September 1948 and is commonly referred to as North Korea. The DPRK is a rogue nation that emphasizes military might and self-reliance. North Korea is the proverbial loose cannon when viewed from a national security standpoint. North Korea has a huge military and multiple types of weapons of mass destruction. A weapon of mass destruction is defined as a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapon capable of destroying a large amount of people, buildings, infrastructure, natural structures, and the biosphere. North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction capabilities must be examined in
According to IHS Jane’s Sentinel Country Risk Assessments (2013) the DPRK has at least twenty different chemical agents in their military arsenal ranging from adamsite (DM) to V-agents (VM and VX) (p. 549). These agents include the mustard-family, phosgene, chlorine, nerve agents, and hydrogen cyanide to name a few. North Korea’s ballistic missiles are capable of delivering these agents to anywhere in the Korean peninsula and even as far reaching as the United States (Snow, 2003). DPRK has Armed Forces for air, sea, and land operations which provides them the ability to deliver chemical attacks in any shape or form. The most disturbing aspect of North Korea’s chemical weapons arsenal is that they are willing to test these agents on unwilling human subjects (Cooper, 2007). North Korea’s chemical weapons program is intimidating because of its extensive size. Chemical warfare also completely disregards the dignity of human life because it kills in a crude systematic fashion. The DPRK wants the world to view their nation as a menacing threat and chemical weapons have the power to portray that image. North Korea’s chemical weapon arsenal shows that they are a security risk and a threat to
IHS Jane’s Sentinel Country Risk Assessments (2013) states that North Korea has enough plutonium to make 40-50 nuclear weapons (p.540). Sources confirm that at least five different nuclear tests have been conducted, this reveals that North Korea has nuclear weapons with a capacity of at least 3-6 kilotons (Undeterred, 2016). North Korea’s most recent missile test was fired from a submarine and the nuclear weapons strength was measured at six kilotons (Undeterred, 2016). North Korea also has underground missile silos capable of holding surface to air missiles. North Korea has ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear strike to anywhere in the Korean peninsula and as far as the United States. North Korea’s Air Force has aircrafts capable of transporting a large nuclear warhead anywhere in the world. North Korea’s nuclear weapons are extremely threatening. The destructive power, immediate damage, accuracy, and delivery capabilities of a nuclear missile makes it the most dangerous weapon of mass destruction in North Korea’s arsenal. North Korea has aggressively pursued their nuclear missile program and the unnerving results speak