Revealing the 'devil's venom' that helps North Korea launch missiles

North Korea operates missiles with dangerous fuel that the US suspects is supplied by China or Russia.

North Koreans watch a news report on the missile launch on September 15 in Pyongyang. Photo: AFP.

US intelligence satellites show that North Korea's missile launch over Japan on September 15 used unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine (UDMH) fuel, a compound used in high-powered explosives, according to the NYTimes.

UDMH is currently produced mainly by China, a few European countries and Russia, which calls it "devil's venom" because of its dangerous properties.

UDMH caused the worst disaster of the space age in 1960, when scores of Soviet workers and spectators died during a test of one of Moscow's first intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Russia recently resumed production of the fuel, after supplies from the West were cut off following the Ukraine crisis.

The US no longer produces this fuel because NASA warned of its toxic and explosive risks in 1966. The US nuclear fleet has switched to more stable solid fuel, which North Korea is trying to emulate. But experts say it could take North Korea a decade to master the technology to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile.

A Soviet missile test accident in 1960 killed many people. Photo: aerospaceweb.

Doubts about origin

Federal officials, lawmakers and scientists say Pyongyang may have received fuel, secret recipes and manufacturing equipment from China, North Korea’s main trading partner. Beijing uses UDMH to launch satellites and nuclear warheads, and the country has long exported UDMH globally.

China has long opposed North Korea’s missile program, and UDMH is included in a list of missile fuels subject to export controls that Beijing has imposed for the past 15 years. However, a secret 2008 report released by WikiLeaks shows evidence of lax enforcement of the controls.

The US government is trying to determine whether China or Russia are supplying UDMH to North Korea and whether it can prevent North Korea from accessing the fuel. "If North Korea doesn't have UDMH, they can't threaten the United States. US intelligence has to answer the question of where they get that fuel, probably China. Does North Korea have a stockpile and how large it is?" said Senator Edward J. Markey, R-Ky.

But it may be too late. Intelligence officials believe North Korea's weapons program has advanced to the point where it no longer relies on outside suppliers.

"Based on the scientific and technological capabilities that North Korea has demonstrated, along with the priority that Pyongyang places on its missile program, North Korea has the ability to produce UDMH domestically," said Timothy Barrett, a spokesman for the US director of national intelligence.

However, some experts are skeptical about this, as the production and use of this highly toxic fuel is difficult. Countries more technologically advanced than North Korea have experienced major missile and factory explosions related to it.

Eckhart W. Schmidt, who has written a book about UDMH and visited fuel plants around the world, said North Korea could learn to produce its own “if supplies from China or Russia are cut off.”

Van Diepen, a former US State Department official, said North Korea may have made some progress in fuel production, even if it has occasionally led to tragedy. “I guess North Korea doesn’t mind having accidents,” Van Diepen said.

According to VNE