North Korea is reportedly believed to have about 1,000 drones that could possibly carry devastating chemical or biological weapons for airborne terror attacks.
The warning came Thursday from Chung Ku-youn, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
Because of its outdated aircraft, North Korea has focused on developing drones, the research fellow added. The development of various versions of the drones, known as "Banghyun," have been under way since the early 1990s,Yonhap reported.
Recently, North Korea has developed a large stealth drone "Banghyun 5" that can carry explosive devices and radioactive materials, Kim Heung-Kwang, a defector and the head of a private think tank, said last year, Yonhap reported.
According to Business Insider, the first installment of Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II is scheduled to be delivered to South Korea in 2018 – a delivery that could make North Korea's jets obsolete, and drone development more urgent.
The drones' payload could be deadly, Yonhap reported.
North Korea is presumed to possess about 25 chemical agents including six nerve agents such as sarin and VX, Yonhap reported. And Pyongyang is estimated to also have 13 types of pathogens such as anthrax and clostridium botulinum that can be used as biologic weapons.
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