NTI: Country Overviews: North Korea: Biological Capabilities

Biological Agents

Hemorrhagic fever viruses
These viruses have at various times been reported as being developed for biological weapons purposes by the DPRK military. However, no confirmed reports have provided further details. One in particular reports that Korean hemorrhagic fever virus (KHFV) deserves attention. This virus--usually referred to in South Korean reports as being the cause of renal failure--is alleged to have been weaponized by the DPRK. KHFV was first discovered when UN and US military personnel became severely ill during the Korean War (1950-53). It was studied by the pre-1969 United States offensive BW program, but since it was difficult to propagate, KHFV was deemed unsuitable for weaponization. In view of the US experience with this virus, it is unlikely that North Korea would have pursued the development of KHFV for BW purposes when other, more easily handled, strains of viral hemorrhagic fever viruses were available.

Technical Description


	Updated March 2003

	Bacillus Athracis (Anthrax)
	Smallpox (Variola major)
	Plague (Yersinia pestis)
	Cholera (Vibrio cholerae)
	Typhus (Rickettsia prowazekii)
	Botulism (Botulinum toxin)
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	Hemorrhagic fever viruses
	Yellow fever virus

	North Korea Maps
	Korean Transliteration
	The Second NPT PrepCom for the 2005 Review Conference
	North Korea's 11th Supreme People's Assembly Elections
	Vinalon, the DPRK, and Chemical Weapons Precursors
	Theater Missile Defense (TMD) and Northeast Asian Security
	Related Links and Publications
	Treaties and Organizations
	Korean Transliteration, Geographic Units, and Proper Names
	CRS Report for Congress: North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons: How Soon an Arsenal?
	CRS Report for Congress: North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons Program (2006)
	NBR: North Korea's Nuclear Weapons (2006)
	FAS: Nuclear Weapons Program (2006)
	The North Korean Plutonium Stock Mid-2006
	The Impact of North Korea’s Nuclear Test on Iran Crisis

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About This Section	CNS Experts

This material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2007 by MIIS.

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