SK Intel Official: NK has Chemical Cluster Bombs

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North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un celebrated the test-launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile last month. A new report in South Korea suggests the North has now developed chemical weapons cluster bombs meant to evade U.S. missile defense systems.

http://www.trunews.com/article/sk-intel-official-nk-has-chemical-cluster-bombs

According to a report this week by one of Seoul’s largest newspapers, a South Korean intelligence official claims North Korea has developed cluster bombs that can be armed with chemical-weapon projectiles. The JoongAng Illbo (The Central Times) newspaper reports the North has been trying to develop the weapons as a means to circumvent the missile defense systems employed by the U.S. at Yongsan Army Garrison in Seoul. The official said the North Korean weapons are designed to detonate 5 km beyond the maximum range of anti-missile batteries. The report continues:

>In the face of North Korea’s development, the U.S. military base here is said to have recently deployed the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement, which has a maximum altitude of 40 kilometers, according to a local military official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. A South Korean-U.S. military report in 2014, exclusively obtained by the JoongAng Ilbo earlier this month, showed the allies assessed then that the cluster bombs were controlled by the North Korean People’s Army Strategic Force, and could be attached to short-range Scud missiles, which can fly between 50 to 1,000 kilometers, and mid-range Rodong missiles, which usually fly from 300 to 1,300 kilometers.

Cluster bombs would be employed in the initial stages of any breakout of war with the intent to destroy aviation facilities and aircraft. Adding the chemical weapons component would increase the lethality of such attacks. The same report also noted that South Korean analysts with connections in the North say a “communication ban” with the South has been implemented.