North Korea could unleash blood curdling or choking nuclear bombs ‘at any point’

Dinky despot Kim Jong-un and North Korea could deploy its nuclear weapons "at any stage of conflict" and is ready to produce poisonous blood and choking agents, the US has said.

The US Defense Department said in a new defense strategy revealed on Thursday (September 28) that North Korea is a "persistent threat" with a particular focus on its nuclear capabilities.

The Pentagon said that North Korea's advancements in nuclear and missile capabilities places "the US homeland and regional allies and partners at risk."

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"The DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) is developing and fielding mobile short-, intermediate-, and intercontinental-range nuclear capabilities that place the US homeland and regional allies and partners at risk," the Pentagon said in the updated strategy, the first since 2014.

"Capability developments provide the DPRK with options for nuclear weapons use at any stage of conflict."

One point highlighted was in 2022, Kim Jong-un enacted a law saying that North Korea can preemptively use nuclear weapons in specific situations.

The Korea Herald reported that the circumstances include a variety of vaugue reasons, including responding to the perceived threat of an imminent nuclear attack, threats against the Kim Jong-un regime, the population, the state's existence, or as an option for offensive warfare.

The US Defense Department also said that the hermit state's "longstanding chemical and biological weapons capabilities remain a threat," as the country "may use such weapons during a conflict."

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North Korea maintains an inventory of "up to several thousand metric tons of chemical warfare agents" and possesses the capability to produce nerve, blister, blood, and choking agents.

Since the mid-1990s estimates have steadily said that North Korea's chemical stockpile is somewhere between 2500 and 5000 metric tonnes.

In 2004 China and Malaysia covertly exported a considerable amount — more than 100 tons in one case – of sodium cyanide, a dual-use chemical that could be used to manufacture both hydrogen cyanide (blood agent) and Tabun (nerve agent), without government approval.

Ironically, South Korea had originally exported the chemicals to China, which China then re-exported to North Korea, according to NTI.org.

Blood agents are non-persistent agents that deprive the blood and organs of oxygen. They include arsine and cyanide.

Choking agents are chemicals that cause severe irritation or swelling of the respiratory tract.

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