Representative Baek Jong-heon "North Korea's biological weapons are a security threat... We need to stockpile medicine for national defense."

People Power Party lawmaker Baek Jong-heon, a member of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, announced on the 1st that the national budget for stockpiling medicines to prepare for biological terrorism and high-risk infectious diseases such as anthrax and Ebola was set too low or was not reflected at all.

Rep. Baek said this based on data submitted from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

According to the data, when establishing the 'mid- to long-term plan for national stockpiles' in April 2025, the government specified 'stockpiling domestically produced anthrax vaccines in preparation for bioterrorism' and 'stockpiling medicines for other high-risk infectious diseases', including Ebola treatments, as key tasks.

However, the cost of purchasing anthrax vaccines reflected in next year's government budget is 2.6 billion won. This is not enough to even secure enough supplies to vaccinate first responders on site.

Furthermore, it was found that the cost of purchasing Ebola treatment was reflected in the 2026 budget, but was not reflected at all in the 2027 budget. Representative Baek explained that although it was included in the medicines subject to stockpiling, it was withdrawn after only the initial budget was allocated.

Ebola virus is a class 1 infectious disease with a fatality rate of around 50%.

In particular, according to the 2022 Defense White Paper, North Korea is assessed to be capable of cultivating and producing various types of biological weapons, including anthrax, smallpox, and plague.

Rep. Baek pointed out, “Unlike missiles, biological weapons are an invisible security threat, so pharmaceutical stockpiles should be treated with the same weight as national defense spending.”