A US Army report claims that North Korea has stocks of nuclear bombs and chemical weapons in its inventory. The report drops hints that there is little likelihood of North surrendering its stockpile because the weapons act as deterrents against invasion. Donald Trump has been pursuing denuclearization with Kim Jong-un for quite some time, and the two leaders have met thrice. A solution has yet to emerge. North Korea is a secretive state, and outsiders have little or no access to the internal goings-on. A shroud of secrecy surrounds its activities, and it isn't easy to ascertain facts with any degree of accuracy.

Daily Mail UK quotes from the report that says – "Estimates for North Korean nuclear weapons range from 20-60 bombs, with the capability to produce six new devices each year." The report adds that the country could obtain up to 100 nuclear bombs by the end of 2020. Pyongyang's stock of chemical weapons could be the third-largest haul of chemical agents, globally.

In case of a conflict, North Korea might deploy chemical artillery shells. A missile fitted with weaponized anthrax or smallpox could lead to the death of thousands.

Cyberwarfare is another asset of North Korea

The US Army report has mentioned the efforts of North Korea to develop its abilities in cyber warfare. It has thousands of hackers spread over the world who can carry out attacks on designated targets. Daily Mail UK goes on to say that North Korea is in a position to conduct computer warfare from its own territory.

The country has acquired the expertise to target any computer connected to the Internet. Moreover, a recent UN report said North Korea has 'probably' developed miniaturized nuclear devices. These could fit into ballistic missiles.

Nuclear programs of North Korea a matter of concern

Donald Trump had taken the initiative to bring Kim Jong-un to the table to discuss possibilities of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.

Their first meeting was in Singapore in 2018. The world saw it as a positive step but, in spite of two subsequent meetings in Hanoi and the DMZ, the two sides could not arrive at a solution. Daily Mail UK adds that North Korea held in abeyance testing of any nuclear device or long-range missile since 2017. At that time, the country had launched an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the mainland United States. Later it tested a thermonuclear bomb, which was probably a part of its strategy to keep the world on edge. The venue was its underground testing site, and the power of the blast led to the partial collapse of the mountain.

North Korea in no mood to stop its nuclear activities

According to The Sun UK, North Korea is determined to pursue its nuclear ambitions, and it has conducted six nuclear tests in total. These began in 2006, and the last one was in 2017. US President Donald Trump met Kim Jong-un three times for disarmament talks at different venues, but the initial enthusiasm after the first talks in Singapore petered out after the third one in the DMZ. North Korea has now distanced itself from nuclear talks with the United States. Economic sanctions imposed on it by the international community have crippled North Korea, but it continues to carry out tests of its nuclear weaponry. It also has a stockpile of chemical weapons.

The US army report said it was "highly likely" that the regime would deploy these weapons in the event of a military conflict. The world has to try and prevent such incidents from happening because chemical warfare can lead to massive scale loss of lives.
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