North Korean Mass Destruction Weapons
PREPARED STATEMENT OF
JU-HWAL CHOI
FORMER OFFICIAL
MINISTRY OF THE PEOPLE'S ARMY
NORTH KOREA
NORTH KOREAN MISSILE PROLIFERATION
HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL SECURITY,
PROLIFERATION, AND FEDERAL SERVICES
of the
COMMITTEE ON
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
OCTOBER 21 1997
I am Choi Ju-hwal, I served in the Ministry of People's Army from
1968 to 1995. I defected from m y post as Colonel and Chief of joint
venture section of Yung-Seong Trading Company under the Ministry of
People's Army. I would like to describe North Korean weapons of mass
destruction.
It is widely known in North Korea that North Korea produces,
deploys and stockpiles two or three nuclear warheads and toxic material
such as over 5,000 tons of toxic gas. It also developed and deployed
rockets such as Nodong 1 and Nodong 2 with a range of 1,000 Km. The
North Korean people know that the North is at the final stage of
developing Taepodong rockets with a range of 5,000 Km. North Korea
acquires powerful and destructive weaponry with political and military
purposes in mind. By having the weapons, the North is able to prevent
itself from being slighted by such major powers as the U.S., Russia,
China and Japan and also to gain the upper hand in political
negotiations and talks with them.
On the military front, the North can deal a blow to the 40,000 U.S.
forces stationed in the South and target the U.S. defense facilities
and the Japanese defense facilities in Japan, thereby effectively
destroying supply based in times of war. With the weaponry, the North
can wreak havoc on the U.S., including Alaska, in a war where there is
no victor nor loser. The 2nd Economic Committee, which is in charge of
its defense industry, is run by the Party Central Committee. In the
Party Central Committee, Secretary Chun Byung-ho is in charge of the
defense industry and runs the Department of Machinery Industry. The 2nd
Economic Committee is located in Kangdongkun of Pyongyang and consists
of eight General Bureaus and one bureau, the 2nd National Science
Institute, and one trading company for material. The 4th General Bureau
and the 5th General Bureau produce rockets and chemical weapons.
production, deployment and sales of rockets (the 4th general bureau)
Production of Rockets
Since the mid-197O's, the North has launched its effort to build
rockets by itself. As part of the effort, the North built rocket
factories for Scuds from the Soviet Union and began R&D activities for
rocket production in the National Defense Institute in the Yongseung
Area of Pyongyang. As a result, the North was able to produce SS
rockets with a range of 250 to 300 Km by the end of 1980's. According
to Vice Marshal and former First Deputy Minister of People's Armed
Forces Kim Kwang-jin (Vice Marshal of Armed Equipment), the North
succeeded in developing and producing rockets with a range of more than
4,000 Km. He said that once the North develops rockets with a range of
1,000 Km, it is not so difficult to develop rockets with a range of
5,000 Km to over 10,000 Km. According to him, the range of rockets
depends on propellants and fuel. This is what he mentioned when he
visited China as the head of the North Korean military delegation.
Rocket Factories
There are a number of rocket factories in North Korea. They include
the ``125 Factory'', which is commonly referred to as ``Pyongyang Pig
Factory,'' in the Hyengjesan Area of Pyongyang, the Number 26 Factory
in Kangkye of Jakangdo, the Yakjeon Machinery Factory in Mankeyungdae
and the 118 Factory in Kagamri, Kaecheon-kun in the southern province
of Pyongahn.
``Pyongyang Pig Factory'' (Number 125 Factory) was open to the
military delegation from Iran and Egypt. The delegation inspected
rocket assembly line.
Rocket Deployment
Since the North uses mostly mobile rocket launchers, not fixed
ones, it is assumed that the North does not have fixed rocket
launchers.
However, as far as I know, there are intermediate range rocket
bases in Sangwon-kun in Pyongyang and Hwadae-kun in the northern
province of Hamkyung.
The Export of Missiles
North Korea has been engaged in a plan to develop missiles jointly
with Egypt. At the request of Egyptian President Mubarak, Kim Il-sung
in the early 1980's transferred missile technology to Egypt and
dispatched a group of North Korean experts to the country. The two
countries seem to have maintained this relationship continuously. As a
result, Egypt in the mid-1980s was successful in manufacturing 400 Km
range surface-to-surface missiles. I confirmed this fact when I met the
chief of the General Bureau of External Cooperation in the Second
Economic Commission in his office located in Botonggang-kuyok in
Pyongyang in 1989. That time I visited the office on a business related
with Vice Marshal Choi Kung's scheduled tour of Egypt. Choi at that
time was the chief of the General Staff of the People's Army. He was
named the minister of Armed Forces later.
North Korea has been exporting missiles to Iran since before the
Iran-Iraq War. North Korea has exported a large amount of surface-to-
surface and surface-to-air missiles to Iran.
the production of chemical weapons (the 5th general bureau)
The Hamhung Branch and three other institutes under the Second
Natural Science Academy are responsible for research and production of
chemical weapons, and seven factories scattered throughout the country
are manufacturing these weapons as well as various anti-chemical
equipment. The Germ Research Institute in the General Logistic Bureau
of the Armed Forces Ministry is responsible for developing biological
weapons.
North Korea is currently producing various kinds of poison gas
including nerve gas, blister gas, among others. These factories include
the Kangye Chemical Factory in Jangang Province, the Sakju Chemical
Factory in North Pyongan Province, the ``February 8'' Vinalon Factory
in Hamhung, North Hamgyong Province, the Ilyong Branch of the Sunchon
Vinalon Factory in South Pyongan Province, the Factory No. 297 in
Pyongwon, South Pyongan Province. There are other chemical factories in
Bongung, Hamhung City, South Hamgyong Province, Hyesan City Yanggang
Province, and Kangye City, Jagang Province.
Kim Jong-chan (major), who served as an assistant military attache
at the North Korean Embassy in East Germany in late 1970's, is said to
have obtained the technological data for manufacturing extremely
poisonous gas from Germany. Based on this new technology, North Korea
has begun to manufacture new kinds of poison gas since the mid-1980s.
It is said that Dr. Li Sung-gi, who is known to have developed
vinalon (a synthetic fiber made from limestone), have participated in
the project to develop the new gas. Kim Joung-chan made a quick
advancement, thanks to his achievement. He was promoted to the rank of
colonel in 1984 and named the chief of the External Business Affairs
Bureau, a position usually occupied by a general-grade officer, in the
Armed Forces Ministry.
The Chemical Bureau in the Armed Forces Ministry once boasted that
North Korea had been able to complete the chemical warfare preparation,
thanks to Kim Joung-chan.
All officers, including general-grade officers, are obliged to
participate in anti-nuclear and anti-chemical warfare training twice a
year (in spring and autumn). During this training the experiments are
conducted: a dog and a rabbit are put in separate glass tubes,
respectively, and a poison gas is blown in, then these animals will die
within 20 seconds. The gas bombs are designed to be delivered by rocket
launchers or howitzer.
Some Americans believe that even if North Korea possessed the
ability to strike the U.S., it would never dare to because of the
devastating response. But I do not agree with this idea. If a war
breaks out in the Korean Peninsula, the North's main target will be the
U.S. forces based in the South and Japan, which is the reason that the
North has been working furiously on its missile programs. Kim Jong-il
believes that if North Korea brings 20,000 American casualties in the
region, it would win a war.
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