North Korea possesses a large supply of the deadliest nerve agent ever created, raising concerns about possible threats beyond its nuclear program, NBC News reported.
This revelation comes amid mounting tensions surrounding the state.
North Korea's foreign minister said on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump had declared war on North Korea, adding that Pyongyang reserved the right to take countermeasures.
The statement follows warnings from the Trump administration that all options were on the table in dealing with North Korea's threats to have a weapon capable of reaching the continental United States, Reuters reported.
While the focus has predominantly been on North Korea’s nuclear program, some experts suggest the state’s stockpile of chemical weapons could be worrisome.
The Center for Nonproliferation Studies estimated that North Korea could possess between 2,500 and 5,000 tons of chemical weapon agents, and could capably produce up to 12,000 tons of chemical weapons.
The report further states that nerve agents are thought to be the focus of North Korean production. If these chemical agents fell into the wrong hands, it could harm thousands.
"The chance that North Korea might provide jihadis with some of their chemical or nuclear capability is a huge concern at the moment," Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, former commanding officer of the U.K. Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment (CBRN) and NATO’s Rapid Reaction CBRN Battalion, said, according to NBC.
He pointed out that two North Korean ships heading toward northern Syria had been found to contain equipment to make chemical weapons.
What concerns Bretton-Gordon is that Pyongyang may decide to sell North Korea’s chemical stockpile.
The state could also opt to put these weapons to use itself.
However, Professor Hazel Smith at London's School of Oriental and African Studies told NBC that that chemical weaponry was not part of the regime's strategic plans.
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