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N. Korea Admitted To US It
Has BioWeapons, Too
11-14-2

A high-ranking North Korean official admitted to US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly last month that Pyongyang possessed biological weapons, in addition to developing nuclear arms, reports said.
 
According to the Yomiuri and Asahi newspapers published Thursday, as well as major local news agencies, a Japanese official said that North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kang Sok Ju had told visiting Kelly: "Other than nuclear, we also have many other things. We also have bio."
 
While the reclusive Stalinist state has long been suspected of having an arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, if confirmed this would be the first time it has admitted to it.
 
The US State Department quickly denied the reports, however, saying in a written answer that the North Korean senior diplomat "made no such remarks or admission during his meeting with Assistant Secretary Kelly."
 
But it said Washington believed Pyongyang did indeed have a germ warfare capability.
 
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda on Thursday said Kelly's reports to Tokyo indicated Pyongyang had the capability for various weapons of mass destruction but the possibility of it having biological weapons was nothing new.
 
"Various sources already pointed out such a possibility years ago," Fukuda told a news conference.
 
"I cannot go into details, but according to Kelly's briefings we understand that North Korea has a capability of producing not only nuclear weapons but also others," he said.
 
The new revelation was likely to influence the outcome of a board meeting of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Program (KEDO) in New York later on Thursday to decide on the future of the program, the reports said.
 
The program is designed to provide North Korea with nuclear plants and oil in exchange for a halt to its nuclear weapons development.
 
 
 
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