A Japanese newspaper says that North Korea has begun to load anthrax onto its intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The report cited by Bloomberg News says the North is testing the biological agent to see if it can survive the immense temperatures the missiles generate.

Just this week, the White House released a security paper noting that Pyongyang is pursuing chemical and biological weapons that could be delivered by missile.

The US has worked for years to prepare for the possibility of an anthrax attack

Meanwhile, the US is putting pressure on North Korea this week with a newly announced international group that will meet in Vancouver on Jan. 16 to show solidarity against the North's nuclear program

The US and Canada say countries that sent forces as part of a United Nations command to support South Korea during the Korean War will participate. They'll be joined by additional countries including Japan, South Korea, and India.



"To send North Korea a unified message from the international community, that we will not accept you as a nuclear nation," US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. "And that all of us share one policy and one goal and that is the full, complete, verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula."



Tillerson is meeting with the Canadian foreign minister Chrystia Freeland this week in Ottawa.