Chemical weaponsNorth Korea conducted human experiments with chemical weapons: Defector
A 47-year old North Korean researcher has defected to Finland, taking with him gigabytes of information on human experiments which he plans to present to EU parliament later this month. The scientist, using the pseudonym “Lee,” worked at a microbiology research center in Ganggye, Chagang Province, which shares a border with China. Lee reached Finland via the Philippines, according to a Korean human rights group.
A 47-year old North Korean researcher has defected to Finland, taking with him gigabytes of information on human experiments which he plans to present to EU parliament later this month.
The scientist, using the pseudonym “Lee,” worked at a microbiology research center in Ganggye, Chagang Province, which shares a border with China. Lee reached Finland via the Philippines, according to a Korean human rights group.
The group said that Lee showed members of the group a data storage device with fifteen gigabytes of data on human experiments in North Korea.
Lee’s claims are consistent with reports from previous defectors from North Korea. The difference this time is that Lee has brought evidence with him to support his report.
In 1990, an officer in North Korea’s special forces said he was left traumatized after mentally and physically disabled children were used in chemical weapons tests as part of his training. Biotechin.asia quotes the officer, Im Cheon-yong, as saying: “And then we have what they call ‘field learning.’ For the biological and chemical warfare tests, we needed ‘objects.’ At first, they used the chemical agents on mice and showed us how they died. Then we watched the instructors carrying out the tests on humans to show us how a person dies. I saw it with my own eyes.”
The Independent reports that the director of the U.S.-based Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, Greg Scarlatoiun, told a Finnish newspaper that Lee’s claims were credible. “We have been told similar stories in the past that human experiments are carried out in prison camps,” he explained. Scarlatouin went on to say that he expected the evidence would support Lee’s allegations.
Last year, defectors reported that North Korea was cleaning up its image by purging its disabled population and making them disappear from public sight, subjecting them to chemical weapons tests, and castrating them. Another defector told of a government program in which those with disabilities are reportedly sent for medical experiments such as “dissection of body parts.”
It has also been reported that North Korea had provided chemical weapons technology to Syria, Egypt, Iran, and Libya in the last two decades.
