It was discovered that a North Korean soldier who had escaped to South Korea had anthrax antibodies in his blood, potentially implying that North Korea is employing biological weapons. The South Korean government is preparing against a biological attack by stocking up on anthrax vaccines following this discovery in November. The Trump administration, in the National Security Strategy report, claims that North Korea is funding nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons research.
North Korea, however, has denied all such claims and expresses its frustration and anger to the United States for spreading “untruths”. North Korea is a signatory to the Biological Weapons Convention. The author of this article points out how the United States falsely asserted that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction in 2003 which was proven to be supported by false intelligence.
Given that Kim Jong Un’s half brother, who fell out of favor with the state, was killed by a nerve agent attack, it’s suggested that the North Korean state does have these capabilities. Also as North Korea is testing its missile defense system, some have expressed fear about missiles being launched containing biological weapons. However, experts have assured that it is unlikely for the pathogens to stay alive during a launch. The biggest threat is to South Korea, as biological weapons could easily delivered by armed forces.
Article link: http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/27/asia/north-korea-anthrax-intl/index.html
The Delegation of Malaysia believes that the North Korean anthrax threat is very real and the international community must treat it as such.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, international defense against biological and chemical weapons is far too insufficient as evidenced by Kim Jong-nam's assassination in 2017 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia. Malaysia strongly condemns the DPRK's use of the VX nerve agent, a chemical weapon categorized as a weapon of mass destruction by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993. The fact that the DPRK has used a chemical weapon in the recent past gives the international community reason to believe that the DPRK has stockpiles of the VX nerve agent and possibly other chemical and biological weapons.
Given that while it was still a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the DPRK violated the NPT on multiple occasions, it is possible that the DPRK is violating the Biological Weapons Convention and producing biological weapons behind closed doors. As stated in the article, Harvard researchers assert that "accurately assessing the threat from North Korea's biological weapons program is challenging." As such, the Delegation of Malaysia implores the international community to treat the possibilities of North Korean biological and chemical weapons programs as significant threats.
As a signatory to both the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention, Malaysia has been working with the UN to combat the proliferation of biological and chemical weapons. Furthermore, Malaysia has been strengthening its own CBRN defense systems and has implemented CBRN units in its Royal Malaysia Police and Federal Reserve Unit. Direct action against the DPRK may only further provoke the nation, and until clear information can be obtained on its biological and chemical weapons, other states should focus on strengthening their own defensive regimes.
The Delegation of Malaysia looks forwards to discussing this topic further in committee in order to create lasting solutions for the international community.