Hungnam Fertiliser Complex: DPRK's Chemical Facilities: Site Profile 4

Project Anthracite uses open source information to map out the North Korean chemical industry and its potential links to a chemical weapons programme. The bulk of available information about the Hungnam Fertiliser Complex refers to the production of fertilisers using basic raw materials such as coal, air, water/steam and phosphate ore. Additionally, there is limited information suggesting the site has been used to produce chemical warfare agents (CWAs).

This paper gives a very brief history of the site before going into greater detail around the different areas of the site and the processes that are understood to take place. The paper then provides an assessment of both the chemicals produced on site for their relevance to a potential chemical weapons programme, and whether and how the site would be declarable under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), should North Korea sign and ratify the CWC.

The features and areas of the site are consistent with the large-scale production of fertilisers. The basic raw materials are used to manufacture chemicals including nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, ammonia and hydrogen, which are in turn used in the production of urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate and superphosphate. These are all fertilisers.

While there were no indictors that CWAs are produced on the site, there are several chemicals which are produced on site and which can be used in upstream processes to produce precursors for CWAs.

This report was authored by members of the RUSI Project Anthracite Team, who provide varying levels of input to the reports produced by the project. The team includes the following: 

Lennie Phillips is Senior Research Fellow, Chemical Weapons in the Proliferation and Nuclear Policy research team at RUSI. 

Sean Corbett is a Senior Associate Fellow at RUSI. 

David Crouch is a Senior Associate Fellow at RUSI. 

Gareth Williams is a Senior Associate at RUSI. 

Hailey Wingo is a Researcher at VERTIC. 

Jack Crawford is a Research Fellow in the Proliferation and Nuclear Policy research team at RUSI. 

Nathan Hunt is an independent contractor. 

Stephen Mercado is an independent contractor. 

Yuseong Choi is an independent contractor. 

Gianguiseppe Pili is an Associate Fellow at RUSI and an Assistant Professor in the Intelligence Analysis Program at James Madison University. 

Samuel Rooker is a student in the Intelligence Analysis Program of James Madison University.