In the late 1980s, open source estimates claimed that North Korea possessed some 250 tons of CW agents. A decade later, this figure was revised up to 4,500 tons or more. According to a former commander of US Forces in Korea, the DPRK is indigenously capable of producing World War I agents, namely choking, irritant, and blister type of agents. In 2006, the South Korean Ministry of Defense assessed that North Korea also possessed nerve agents.

Chemical Industry and Infrastructure

During the first Seven-Year Plan (1961-1967, and adjusted further to 1970), the DPRK was able to increase production of chemical products while expanding their variety. The Pongung Chemical Factory began with a vinyl chloride production line, inaugurating the "February 8 Vinalon Plant" in 1961. This factory was the first major step for the DPRK to fully involve itself in organic chemical industry. Other industrial plants followed, including the Hŭngnam Fertilizer, Pongung chemical, Aoji Chemical, Chongsu Chemical, Hwasŏng and Sunch'ŏn Chemical factories. This nascent chemical sector, however, remained at a relatively low level in terms of overall quality. The Aoji and Hwasŏng chemical plants were largely based on coal, and ammonia and caustic soda were produced primarily at the Pongung factory. Carbide dominated the production lines at Chongsu and Sunch'ŏn. Currently, North Korea has an estimated calcium carbide production capacity of at least 550,000 tons per year. The production of calcium carbide is especially important in the case of North Korea, as it can be used to generate acetylene for organic synthesis (especially synthetic polymers).

Increasing production of chemical fertilizers was the major objective of the the Six-Year Plan of 1971-1976. The North Korean petrochemical industry also developed during this period, replacing a nearly exclusive reliance on coal. The DPRK further developed the "February 8 Vinalon Complex" in the 1970s to produce synthetic resins.

With the newly introduced policy of fostering a light industry, as well as production of chemical fertilizers to improve agricultural yields and stave off hunger among its populace, the third Seven-Year Plan (1987-1993) expanded further chemical production facilities at the following sites:

• Sariwŏn Potash Complex
• Sunch'ŏn Vinalon Complex (increased capacity to 100,000 tons of vinalon per year)
• July 4th Factory (Manp'o), Chagang Province
• Haeju Triple Superphosphate Fertilizer Factory
• Tanchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory

Goals set at this time included increasing production of chemical fertilizers by 7.2 million tons, synthetic fibers by 25,000 tons, resins and plasticizers by 500,000 tons, as well as tripling lactic acid, doubling caustic soda, and nearly quintupling sodium carbonate production.

In 1991, Kim Il Song called on the DPRK chemical factories to take more initiative in improving and expanding their roles in the chemical industry. The city of Hamhŭng in South Hamgyŏng Province was selected as the site for the development of a large chemical industry complex. The largest chemical site in North Korea, the Hamhŭng Fertilizer Complex, was slated for modernization, as well as the February 8 Vinalon Complex. The results of these improvements are unclear.

Commodity chemicals including lactic acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydroxide (current production capacity said to be 150,000 tons), calcium carbide, and ammonia make up the first tier of intermediates. Acetic acid, phthalic acid, methanol, benzene, toluene, and xylene make up the second tier in the DPRK's organic chemical industry. Sulfuric acid is produced at the lactic acid plants in the Hŭngnam Fertilizer Complex, the Munpyong and Nampo refineries, and as a by-product at the Hwanghae Iron and Steel Complex. The DPRK claims to have a production capacity of 800,000 tons of sulfuric acid, more than half of which is made at Hŭngnam. Caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) is produced the February 8 Vinalon Complex, Sinuiju Chemical Factory, and 60 other smaller production facilities.

The DPRK is estimated to have a production capacity of 200,000 tons for ammonium nitrate and nitric acid, 75% of which is produced at the Hŭngnam Fertilizer Complex. Overall chemical fertilizer outputs in the DPRK reportedly increased more than 400% from 1960 to 1975 (462,000 tons in the latter year). In 1989, the DPRK claimed it had produced 5.6 million tons of chemical fertilizers of all types. Nonetheless, the Bank of Korea estimated that only 770,000 tons of chemical fertilizers were actually produced in 1997. One estimate puts production of nitrogen-based fertilizers (ammonia sulfate), ammonia, and synthetic resins in the DPRK at 700,000 tons spread out across the Hŭngnam Fertilizer Complex, Aoji Chemical Factory, Namhung Youth Chemical Complex, the Kim Chaek Iron and Steel Complex, February 8 Vinalon Complex, and the Aoji Petrochemical Factory.)

The quality of North Korean fertilizers is generally regarded as low, with dependence on imports for potash, for example. This situation persists despite the completion in 1992 of the first phase in the Sariwŏn Potash Fertilizer Complex. Beginning in 1999, pursuant to a September 1998 revision of the constitution, the DPRK embarked on yet another attempt to restructure industrial plants, including those of the chemical industry. Complexes were reduced to individual units, so the February 8 Vinalon Complex, Hŭngnam Fertilizer Complex, and the Namhung Youth Chemical Complex were all renamed "factories or plants." The real significance of this change is unclear, although it appears to have led to a certain amount of downsizing, creating new functional units. Later, many chemical enterprises reverted back, at least in name, to the original denotation of "complex" for reasons that are also unclear.

Dual-Use Chemical Production

As in most other sectors in the DPRK, shortfalls in energy production and aging factory equipment mean that North Korea has an under-performing chemical sector. Most of North Korea's chemical products appear to be limited to polymer-based manufacturing, producing large quantities of polyethylene, acrylonitrile, and vinalon (polyvinyl alcohol). Unfortunately, few countries have any demand for vinalon, which is an inferior textile fiber. Only four basic products from petroleum, such as acrylics and other polymer fibers, were produced in North Korea as of 1995. As of 1998, the DPRK was still unable to produce nylon and polyester in significant quantity, while the opposite is true for vinalon ("Chuch'e fiber").

In order to provide feedstocks for synthetic fibers, particularly polyvinyl alcohol, the DPRK is required to have a large source of ethylene. Through derivatives of petrochemical activities as well as acetylene production (i.e., calcium carbide), such a compound could be diverted to production of mustard or possibly Lewisite (both blister agents).

North Korea may also possess a minor production capability for refined chemicals, especially in the important category of organophosphates. An indigenous capacity to produce organophosphate (OP) compounds, a group of chemicals that makes up a rapidly growing market, would also be critical for North Korea to produce pesticides as well as flame-retardants, synthetic oils, and plasticizers. This basic infrastructure could also be used for nerve agent production.

Key Sources:
Kim Yong-yun, "North Korean Chemical Industry," Pukhan (Seoul), December 1998, pp. 132-143, in FBIS document FTS19981230001322; Kim Yong-yun, "North Korea's Organizational Restructuring of Factories and Enterprises: What Does It Mean?" Pukhan (Seoul), 1 March 2000, pp. 88-99, in FBIS Document KPP2000306000027.

	Updated July 2008