With Kim Jong-nam’s killing, North Korea shows the world its deadly arsenal includes more than nuclear weapons
Donald Kirk says any future talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons must have chemical weapons on the agenda, in the wake of Kim Jong-nam’s assassination
The poisoning of the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has one salutary effect. It makes us painfully aware of a category of weapons of mass destruction that has been largely overlooked in the focus on nuclear devices.
In all the talk about the North Korean menace, little has been said about its capacity for developing chemical and biological weapons. How advanced is it? Some believe it has developed dozens of types, ranging from anthrax to ricin. Certainly, it would seem, it is capable of inflicting death with VX, the compound that killed Kim Jong-nam in Kuala Lumpur.
The question is whether North Korea can deliver this and other agents on a mass scale.
One thing is certain: chemical and biological warfare should be on the table for negotiations with the North Koreans, along with their nuclear programme. Those who would like to renew the dormant talks on persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions in exchange for aid should not hesitate to put these other means of mass killing on the agenda.
Why China should reach out to the US to counter Kim Jong-un
Looking back, it seems odd that none of the parties to the previous talks, including Russia, Japan and South Korea, the US and China, has elevated biological and chemical weapons to the same level of urgency.