North Korea has up to 60 nuclear weapons and a 5,000-tonne stockpile of chemical weapons, according to the US Army.

The calculations were made last month in a report by the US Department of the Army, called North Korean tactics.

Sections warn Kim Jong-un’s regime may be able to obtain 100 such weapons by the end of this year, South Korean news agency Yonhap reports.

It reads: “Estimates for North Korean nuclear weapons range from 20-60 bombs, with the capability to produce 6 new devices each year.

North Korea is supposedly the third biggest possessor of chemical agents, with 2,500-5,000 tonnes and 20 different types, the research adds.

The authors say that Kim’s scientists have been working on weaponising anthrax or smallpox, and potentially mounting them on missiles to use against South Korea or the US.

It is believed the hermit kingdom also has an army of more than 6,000 hackers who are operating in countries such as China, India and Russia.

The report warns they can “reach targeted computers anywhere in the world”.

It also states that Kim does not want to end up like former Libyan ruler Muammar Gadaffi, who was killed by rebel forces after a NATO airstrike on his convoy.

Kim met with US President Donald Trump for the first time in Singapore in 2018, but talks on denuclearisation have since stalled.

Their second summit, held in Vietnam in early 2019, fell apart.

Trump and Kim met again at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in June 2019 and agreed to restart negotiations.

However, working-level talks between the two sides in Sweden in October were broken off.

Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton, told reporters in New York last week that the president might seek another summit with Kim as an “October Surprise” ahead of the election.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later said Trump would only agree to talks if there was a likelihood of real progress.

Source:- Daily Star

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