The rogue nation is armed with a huge horde of nuclear weapons. The Pentagon believes it has access to 200 launchers used to fire short and long-range weapons, and estimates suggest they could have between 13 and 21 missiles.
Pyongyang could even have enough atomic material for 100 nuclear bombs, along with four nuclear warheads.
And recent satellite images of Kim Jong-un‘s main missile test site reveal North Korea‘s weapons are more powerful than first thought.
So on the surface, the downfall of Pyongyang may seem like an unquestionabley good thing.
But its collapse could actually be more perilous for the rest of the world than if the chubby tyrant chose to attack.
If the USA and its allies were to succeed in causing the collapse of the hermit state, society could collapse and the Kim dynasty be extinguished.
But the real danger would stem from immediate concerns over who has control over not just the country’s nuclear program, but also its chemical and biological weapons stockpiles.
The chemical and biological projects are much larger than North Korea’s nuclear program, and could even be a bigger threat if they ended up in the wrong hands.
Estimates say there are between 3,000 to 5,000 tonnes of chemical weapons in North Korea’s arsenal – despite Pyongyang’s instance no chemical arms exist.
But according to the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative, a non-profit organisation, the isolated country possesses deadly nerve agents including sarin and VX.
The NTI say: “North Korea may possess between 2,500 tons and 5,000 tons of CW agents.
“The South Korean government assesses that North Korea is able to produce most types of chemical weapons indigenously, although it must import some precursors to produce nerve agents which it has done in the past.
“At maximum capacity, North Korea is estimated to be capable of producing up to 12,000 tons of CW.
“Nerve agents such as sarin and VX are thought be to be the focus of North Korean production.”
And while the weapons are capable of killing millions, allied forces would need extreme levels of intelligence to locate all the materials and destroy them following the regime’s collapse.
This week, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons warned North Korea’s chemical weapons stockpile is a “concern for peace and stability” on the Korean peninsula and beyond.
And director general Ahmet Uzumcu urged countries to apply “more pressure” to get Pyongyang to sign the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty, which aims to ban the world’s chemical stockpiles.
But the rogue nation has so far ignored all requests, and it is likely Kim has even upped production.
Now concern is over exactly what will happen if the regime were to fall – and who would inherit the deadly arsenal.