This annotated chronology is based on the data sources that follow each entry. Public sources often provide conflicting information on classified military programs. In some cases we are unable to resolve these discrepancies, in others we have deliberately refrained from doing so to highlight the potential influence of false or misleading information as it appeared over time. In many cases, we are unable to independently verify claims. Hence in reviewing this chronology, readers should take into account the credibility of the sources employed here.
Inclusion in this chronology does not necessarily indicate that a particular development is of direct or indirect proliferation significance. Some entries provide international or domestic context for technological development and national policymaking. Moreover, some entries may refer to developments with positive consequences for nonproliferation.
Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy accuses China and North Korea of shipping "terrible chemical weapons" to Syria.
—"[Thirty] Planeloads of Iranian Arms to Hezbollah Since April: Levy," Agence France Presse, 3 February 1997.
Hwang Chang Yop, 74, a former tutor of North Korean leader Kim Chong Il who defected to South Korea, asserts that North Korea has developed nuclear and chemical weapons that are "capable of scorching" South Korea and Japan. He also states that North Korea could potentially start a war out of sheer desperation.
—"N. Korea Capable of Nuclear attack, Defector Claims: Nation Ready for War, Report Says," The Ottawa Citizen, 23 April 1997.
North Korea advises that the defector who claims North Korea possesses nuclear and chemical weapons is deranged and "sick with paranoia."
—"North Korea says defector is deranged and paranoid," Chicago Sun Times, 24 April 1997.
Following the questioning of defecting DPRK Workers' Party Secretary, Hwang Chang Yop, South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Chong Ha states that North Korea is believed to possess about 5,000 tons of chemical weapons. In testimony before the National Assembly Unification and Foreign Affairs Committee, he declares that North Korea operates eight chemical weapons plants in "Oaji" and elsewhere that are capable of producing 5,000 tons of chemical weapons annually. He also said that the ROK government would "urge North Korea at international meetings to join the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)." [Note 1: The foreign minister in this case was probably referring to Aoji-ri; Note 2: The figure of 5,000 tons is also referred to in a 28 November 2001 report quoting South Korean military sources.]
—"South Korean Minister Says North has 5,000 Tons of Chemical Weapons," 8 May 1997, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts.
ROK Vice Foreign Minister Yi Ki Chu expresses "deep concern over the failure of North Korea to join the CWC [Chemical Weapons Convention]," saying that the DPRK's stockpile of chemical weapons poses a threat to the security of both South Korea and Northeast Asia.
—"South Korean Vice Foreign Minster Urges Pressure on North over Chemical Arms," Yonhap News Agency, Seoul, 7 May 1997, BBC Summary of World Broadcasts.
Citing a threat from the DPRK, Secretary of Defense William Cohen says that the United States has increased its spending on counterproliferation measures, especially on chemical defenses. "I think the chemical weapons threat is proliferating far beyond North Korea," he said.
—"Pentagon cites rising threat of chemical weapons," Agence France Presse, 19 May 1997.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Chong Ha testifies that the ROK government is working with the United States to develop counter-measures to North Korean chemical and biological weapons.
—"Korea-US to counter north biological-chemical weapons," Digital Chosunilbo, 5 July 1997, <http://www.metro.seoul.kr/eng/news/1997970507-3.htm>.
A ROK Ministry of National Defense report claims that 1,000 tons of chemical weapons are already in the North Korean arsenal, and that the DPRK has a capability to manufacture 5,000 tons a year.
—"South Korea to Link Aid to Repositioning of North's Military Forces," BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 12 July 1997.
South Korean Joint Chief of Staff states in an official report that North Korea is developing about 15 tons of chemical weapons daily and has a stockpile of approximately 1,000 tons. Of the latter, 70 tons are actually filled in munitions and are deployed, while the remaining are in bulk storage.
—"N. Koreans' 'Amassing Chemical Weapons'," The Daily Telegraph, 19 August 1997, p. 13.
Ch'oe Ju Hwal testifies that North Korea possessed the following chemical weapons (CW) agents in its arsenal: sarin, soman, tabun, V-agents; mustard, lewisite, hydrogen cyanide, and cyanogen chloride (yamoshun).
—Testimony, Hearing of the International Security Proliferation and Federal Services Subcommittee of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Weapons Proliferation in North Korea, 21 October 1997.
US Undersecretary of Defense Slocombe states that North Korea is "working on acquiring nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons capability that poses a threat to Japan."
—"N. Korean Weapons Threatening Japan: Slocombe," Jiji Press Ticker, 6 March 1998.
Satellite images (Spot Image, software by Research Systems) obtained by a South Korean news agency purports to confirm that North Korea is producing chemical weapons in facilities along its northern border with China. A facility is identified in Sakchu "believed to had chemical agents into military ordnance, possibly even missile warheads." The imagery also seems to show widespread environmental damage around the facility, leading many to believe that the facility is releasing dangerous chemicals into the atmosphere rather than neutralizing them.
—"Armed and Desperate: Satellites Show North Korean Chemical Weapons," CBN (Christian Broadcast Network), 24 July 1998, <http://www.cbn.org/newsstand/stories/98074.asp>.
ROK government officials claim that a North Korean "kamikaze" or suicide squad "with some 140 run-down fighters . . . could be outfitted with chemical weapons including poison gas."
—"Koreas: South Says North's 'Suicide Squad' May Carry Chemical Weapons," BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific, 19 September 1998.
Japan asks the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to urge North Korea to join the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
—"Foreign Minister Urges Chemical Weapons Body to Deter North Korea," BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 3 December 1998.
A New York Times editorial, entitled "Reducing Russian Dangers," suggests that former Soviet weapons scientists might abet rogue nations in acquiring weapons of mass destruction: "There is no longer any threat of Russia's deliberately attacking the United States. But Moscow's still-formidable stocks of nuclear bombs, nuclear ingredients and biological and chemical warfare agents pose a different kind of danger. Much of this material is inadequately secured, and the workers guarding it are paid poorly or not at all. That creates an unacceptably high risk that some material could be sold to potential aggressors like Iraq, Libya, North Korea, or Serbia. Many Russian weapons scientists are also unemployed or unpaid and vulnerable to foreign recruitment."
—(Editorial board), "Reducing Russian Dangers," New York Times, 21 January 1999, p. A22.
General Stalislav Petrov, head of Russian nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, denies the New York Times editorial on 21 January 1999 that suggested Russian chemical weapons technology were proliferating to foreign countries, including Iraq, Libya, North Korea, or Serbia. ITAR-TASS news agency quoted General Stanislav Petrov, as saying: "The escape or transfer of chemical weapons to third countries is out of the question."
—"Russia Denies Chemical Weapons Going Abroad," Agence France Presse, 29 January 1999.
North Korea refutes US assertions that it is developing chemical weapons and instead accuses the United States of employing unconventional munitions during the Korean War.
—Edith M. Lederer, "N. Korea: US Used Banned Weapons," AP Online, 10 March 1999.
South Korea is conducting military exercises in Kumchon County to deflect any North Korean agents that intend to enter the country using hang gliders, paragliders, and hot air balloons to launch chemical weapons attacks. South Korean Defense Ministry officials also report that, "For the past two years, North Korea has been importing hang gliders, motorized paragliders and hot air balloons and has been training a special unit to use them to sneak into South Korea for espionage or possible to launch biological or chemical weapons attacks."
—Sonni Efron, "S. Korea Prepares for Glider Attacks," The Gazette, 20 March 1999, p. C11; Sonni Efron, "S. Korea Troops Look Skyward," Los Angeles Times, 20 March 1999, p. 4.
The North Korean Peace Committee issues a statement that accuses South Korea of developing and stockpiling chemical weapons.
—"North Korea Releases Statement on South 'Stockpile' of Chemical Weapons," BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 21 April 1999.
Japanese officials announce their suspicions that North Korea is developing chemical weapons.
—"Japan Suspects North Korea Has Biological and Chemical Weapons, the Foreign Ministry Said," AP Worldstream, 3 June 1999.
The South Korean Ministry of National Defense (MND) estimates that the DPRK possesses eight chemicals plants, four research laboratories, and six storage facilities as chemical weapon-related facilities, and that the DPRK would employ chemical weapons (CW) agents by means of "mortars, field artillery, multiple rocket launchers (MRLs), and Frog, Scud and Nodong-1 missiles on land, fire support vessels at sea, and fighters, bombers and transport aircraft in the air." The DPRK "has the capability of launching chemical munitions into our forward areas and as far as Pusan and Mokpo. The North may also dare to launch such an attack through its SOF [special operations forces] troops armed with chemical weapons."
—Katsuhiro Kuroda, "DPRK Manufactures Chemical Weapons," Sankei Shimbun, 10 June 2000, internet edition, translated in FBIS Document ID: JPP20000610000025.
In response to Japanese media claims that the DPRK is equipped with chemical and biological weapons, the North Korean official news agency (KCNA) issues a categorical denial.
—"KCNA on Japan's Nuclear Arming," KCNA News Agency, Pyongyang, in English, 14 June 1999, transcribed in BBC Summary of World Broadcasts.
A South Korean document, originating from the defense ministry, states that North Korea is increasingly focusing on stockpiling chemical weapons. It is estimated that current stockpiles lie around 5,000 tons, five times what it was in 1997.
—David Watts, "Germ Warfare Claim," The Times, 13 October 1999.
General Thomas Schwartz, in charge of America's 37,000 troops in South Korea, warns that North Korea has "tremendous capability" in terms of both conventional and chemical weapons despite the suffering the country has endured economically in recent years.
—Don Kirk, "North Korean Power Grows, U.S. General Warns," International Herald Tribune, 17 February 2000, p. 5.
In an unclassified report, a special advisor to the commander in chief (CINC) of the UN Command in Korea reports that "USFK [US Forces in Korea] J2 assesses that the North is self-sufficient in the production of chemical components for first generation chemical agents. They have produced stockpiles estimated at up to 5,000 metric tons of several types of agents, including nerve, choking, blister, and blood."
—Stephen Bradner, "North Korea's Strategy," 1 August 2000, paper presented at the third NPEC/Institute for National Security Studies/Army War College sponsored workshop on Comparative Strategies, 12-14 June 2000, Arlington, Virginia, <http://www.wizard.net/~npec/papers/Bradner.htm>.
"South Korea will press North Korea to scrap or at least reduce its chemical weapons stockpile, a ROK defense official says. "North Korea is presumed to possess 2,500 to 5,000 tons of chemical weapons."
—"South Korea to Press North Korea to Reduce Chemical Weapons," AFX News Limited/Asia, 21 June 2000; "Koreas: South Studies Proposal for both Koreas to Scrap Chemical Weapons," Yonhap News Agency, Seoul, 20 June 2000, BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific.
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Updated April 2003 |
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