Defectors from North Korea who formerly lived near the rogue nation’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site say that radiation from multiple nuclear tests are the cause of a “ghost disease” that has taken several of their lives in the recent past.
One defector, Lee Jeong Hwa, says: “So many people died we began calling it ‘ghost disease. We thought we were dying because we were poor and we ate badly. Now we know it was the radiation.”
Though there is no conclusive scientific evidence or expert opinion that this is, indeed, the case, the World Health Organization says that there is a long-term risk of cancer even from low doses of exposure. Radiation exposure also affects the functioning of organs and tissues.
Lee and others have been tested, but their results have come back clean. That makes it harder to validate claims of radiation leakage.
The problem is the lack of actually proof in the form of data. Says Suh Kune-yull, a professor of nuclear engineering at Seoul National University (SNU):
“I don’t think they’re (the defectors) lying. We have to take their word, but I don’t have much reliable information.”
Some of the claims by the defectors date back to the 1980s and 1990s. North Korea began nuclear testing during the regime of Kim Jong Il, in 2006. The fact that the defectors cite cases as far back as the 80s means there is a possibility of other types of military activity that could have poisoned parts of Kilju county, where the Punggye-ri test site is located.
Source: NBC News
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