South Korean media have reported that the body of the defected North Korean soldier has Anthrax antibodies in his bloodstream. Medical experts believe that the defected North Korean soldier who reached the South was either exposed to Anthrax or was vaccinated against it.
The news is alarming in nature, as the immunity of the defected soldier indicates that North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un is working on biological weapons apart from their routine nuclear missile program. Earlier many reports surfaced online stating that Pyongyang is testing the possibility of loading Anthrax warheads on its Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles. It has also been reported that the main aim of these tests was to determine whether the Anthrax bacteria could survive in high temperatures that occur when the warheads make re-entry from the space.
It should be also noted that the South Korean military has not developed an Anthrax vaccine, and it will not likely happen until the end of 2019.
Even though the US and countries like Japan strongly believe that North Korea is building biological warheads, Pyongyang has continuously denied these claims and has added that they will take revenge on the US for spreading these baseless rumours. Western media houses previously reported that North Korea is planning to create Anthrax spores from planes to trigger a massive killing spree.
The South Korean media has not revealed any details about the identity of this soldier. As of now, four soldiers have defected to North Korea this year, and in all probability, the soldier who has the immunity will be the defector who was nearly shot dead by his fellow workers in November. During the course of his treatment, medical experts found parasites, some of them longer than 10-inches, in the body of the North Korean soldier.
The presence of these parasites is a strong sign of undernutrition issue which has been prevailing in North Korea for many decades.
