North Korea’s Nuclear Tests Expose Neighbors to Radiation Risks

The 2014 Report of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea stated that:

The State has consistently failed in its obligation to use the maximum of its available resources to feed those who are hungry. Military spending – predominantly on hardware and the development of weapons systems and the nuclear program – has always been prioritized, even during periods of mass starvation.(2)

Since then, resolutions and statements by other countries or international organizations on the human rights situation in North Korea also point out the deterioration of the human rights situation as a result of the North Korean government investing scarce resources in nuclear and weapons development. Accordingly, there is a growing international awareness that resolving the nuclear issue is inextricably linked to human rights issues.

North Korea’s rulers have sought to maximize international interest in its nuclear capabilities while avoiding attention on its human rights issues. There is in fact a tendency to view the North Korean nuclear issue solely from a security perspective. Governments and research institutes around the world have been focusing on monitoring and analyzing the type, scale, evidence and signs of resumption of nuclear tests. By contrast, there has been little interest in human rights violations such as forcible transfer of population, forced labor for nuclear tests and threats to human security caused by soil or water resource contamination. A few media outlets reported stories of North Korean escapees who had lived near the nuclear test site, but interest did not last.

Six nuclear tests have made Punggye-ri and Mt. Mantap internationally famous, but there has been a dearth of studies on how many people live near the site of repeated tests of increasing magnitude, what they eat and drink and how their health is affected. Nevertheless, mapping the possible range of leakage and dissemination of radioactive materials through groundwater points to a large area and population at risk.

The populations in neighboring countries such as South Korea, China and Japan are also exposed to the radioactive risk from the contaminated agricultural and marine products imported from North Korea. It is the responsibility of the respective governments to find out and inform the public about where North Korea’s nationally advertised specialties like “Mt. Chilbo pine mushrooms” are grown and how they are consumed across borders.

South Korea is the country best suited to conduct a meaningful epidemiological investigation provided it has the political will, since there are nearly 900 North Korean escapees who had lived in the areas near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site after the first nuclear test in 2006. But South Korea’s Ministry of Unification reluctantly conducted radiation exposure tests for only 30 escapees in 2017 and 10 escapees in 2018 and covered up the test results showing worrying levels of chromosomal abnormalities among 9 of them (22.5 percent); the tests ceased from 2019. The South Korean government under President Moon Jae-in (2017- 2022) avoided publicizing issues expected to rattle North Korea.

Since 2019, TJWG has been gauging the interests of diplomats and journalists at home and abroad. The diplomats expressed interest and pointed out that, despite the need to discuss the North Korean nuclear issue along with the North Korean human rights issue, it has been difficult to find concrete links thus far. The journalists stated that there are limits to reporting based on rumors or interviews with a few North Korean escapees.

TJWG continued to collect information and data while waiting for an opportune moment. From March 2022, the news of impending resumption of nuclear tests brought about a renewed interest.(3) With the end of Seoul’s appeasement of North Korea following the inauguration of the Yoon Seokyeol government in May 2022, an environment conducive to the disclosure of relevant information emerged. Therefore, TJWG decided to gather and organize information to publish a visual report explaining the issue in a coherent manner.

The purpose of this report is fivefold. First, it sets out to clarify the indivisibility of the North Korean nuclear issue and the North Korean human rights issue. Second, it aims to inform the North Korean people about the risk of harm caused by repeated nuclear tests through various means and channels. Third, there is a need to raise awareness about the health risks posed to the people living in South Korea, China and Japan, due to the smuggling and distribution of agricultural and marine products from North Korea. Fourth, the report aims to persuade the South Korean government to expand the radiation exposure tests for the North Korean escapees who had lived in the areas near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site and to disclose the test results. Fifth, TJWG urges the interested states and international organizations to discuss what to explore and how to proceed with additional investigations based on the contents of this report.

Main Findings and Recommendations
Hundreds of thousands of people living in the areas near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site are at risk from the leakage and dissemination by water of the radioactive materials from the nuclear test site.

·  There are 8 cities and counties (Kilju County, Hwadae County, Kimchaek City, Myonggan County, Myongchon County, Orang County, Tanchon City and Paegam County) of 3 provinces (North Hamgyong Province, South Hamgyong Province and Ryanggang Province) by administrative division within a 40km radius of the nuclear test site or within the scope of influence from the Mt. Mantap-Changhung Stream-Namdae Stream water system.

·  According to North Korea’s 2008 census data, the total population of the eight cities and counties is approximately 1.08 million.

·  It is not known whether the prisoners at Kwanliso (political prison camp) No. 16 adjacent to the nuclear test site were included in the census of Myonggan County (formerly Hwasong County). The number of prisoners is known to be approximately 28,700 (as of June 2022).

·  Out of approximately 1.08 million people, the affected population would be approximately 540,000 or 270,000 under the assumption that 50 or 25 percent respectively has been affected.

·  Considering the number of deaths over the 17 years since the start of the nuclear tests in 2006, the affected population may be higher.

·  The actual situation of water use is of particular concern. North Korea’s 2008 census data shows that nearly one out of every six households (15.5%) in North Hamgyong Province which includes Kilju County uses groundwater, waterhole, public tap, spring, etc. as drinking water. Since the chronic shortage of electricity makes the piped water into dwelling units useless, it appears that more households are in fact using groundwater, waterhole, etc. as drinking water.

As a result of the smuggling and distribution of agricultural and marine products and local specialties like pine mushrooms from the areas near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, not only the North Korean people but also the populations in neighboring countries such as South Korea, China and Japan may also be at risk.

·  Despite the risk of radioactive contamination through water, agricultural and marine products from the areas around Punggye-ri are consumed mainly by local people while the local specialties like pine mushrooms are distributed to other regions and overseas as a highly profitable and secret way to earn foreign currency for the North Korean government.

·  Pine mushrooms grow not only around Mt. Chilbo but also in mountains within a 40km radius of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site. North Korean escapees from Kilju County and Paegam County stated that the locals picked pine mushrooms from the Mt. Chilbo area prior to the construction of the nuclear test site and that the picking of mushrooms has continued in the mountains around the restricted area after its construction.

·  In 2017, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) reacted with alarm at a possible radioactive leakage after North Korea’s 6th nuclear test; however, the Chinese authorities have failed to stop the smuggling of North Korea’s agricultural and marine products or their distribution within China or to a third country.

·  In 2015, the South Korean authorities detected 981Bq/kg or more than 9 times the standard level of radioactive cesium isotopes (Cs-134 and Cs-137), which is 100Bq/kg, in dried hedgehog mushrooms imported from North Korea disguised as Chinese products but were not able to identify the area of origin within North Korea. In 2018, the South Korean government came under criticism for giving away the pine mushrooms that President Moon Jae-in had received as a gift from Chairman Kim Jong-un to about 4,000 16 Mapping the Risk and Effect of Radioactive Contamination of Groundwater Sources from the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site in North Korea elderly separated families reportedly without radiation testing.

·  Although Japan banned all imports from North Korea after North Korea’s first nuclear test in 2006, North Korean pine mushrooms disguised as Chinese products in “pine mushroom laundering” are in demand because their price is 1/10 that of the Japanese ones. The Japanese authorities have arrested and prosecuted the executives of the pro-Pyongyang General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) involved in the smuggling operations and reportedly obtained transaction documents between Chongryon and Office No. 39 of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) in North Korea, responsible for raising slush funds for North Korea’s supreme rulers, stating that the export of pine mushrooms is a state project. There was no news about the testing of the mushrooms for radioactive contamination.

After reluctantly initiating radiation exposure tests, South Korea’s Ministry of Unification watered down the test results revealing abnormalities in 9 out of 40 North Korean escapees from the areas near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site (22.5 percent) in 2017 and 2018 and ceased the tests from 2019; testing all 160 escapees who had lived in Kilju or all 881 escapees who had lived in the areas near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site since North Korea’s 1st nuclear test in 2006 can be done with a budget of about 250 million won (211,000 USD) or 1.4 billion won (1,164,000 USD) respectively.

·  The pioneering research by North Korean escapee Dr. Choi Kyong-Hui, president of SAND Institute, and her efforts to publicize the issue as well as concerns about radioactive leakage after North Korea’s 6th nuclear test made the Ministry of Unification initiate its own radiation exposure tests for the escapees.

·  The Ministry of Unification presented the results of the radiation exposuretests conducted on 30 North Korean escapees from Kilju County in 2017 in an informal oral briefing restricted to the South Korean media journalists and downplayed the significance of the test results. The Ministry of Unification reduced the number of test subjects in 2018 to 10 people and failed to announce the test results for 9 months after the completion of testing until the issue was raised at the National Assembly.

·  Among the 30 escapees tested in 2017, 4 (13 percent) showed 7 to 10 stable chromosomal abnormalities and the median radiation dose was 279 to 394 mSv while among the 10 escapees tested in 2018, 5 (50 percent) showed 7 to 59 stable chromosomal abnormalities and the median radiation reached 279 to 1,386 mSv.

·  Those who stayed in Kilju County until the 3rd to 6th nuclear tests period tend to have more chromosomal abnormalities and higher radiation doses than those who stayed until the 1st and 2nd nuclear tests period. There was one test subject who had escaped from Myongchon County, but none from Kilju County, immediately after the 6th nuclear test. Therefore, the South Korean government needs to actively contact the North Korean escapees who have experienced the 3rd to 6th nuclear tests period and expand the number of test subjects.

·  The National Assembly recommended the Ministry of Unification and the Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (KIRAMS) to conduct tests for all North Korean escapees from the areas near the nuclear test site, but the two organs ceased the testing from 2019 and it has yet to resume as of February 2023.

·  Among a total of 33,882 North Korean escapees who have entered South Korea by the end of 2022, those who had lived in Kilju County and the areas near Punggye-ri after North Korea’s 1st nuclear test in 2006 are 160 and 881 respectively; those who had lived in Kilju County and the areasnear Punggye-ri after the 6th nuclear test in September 2017 are 3 and 20 respectively (as of February 2022).

·  According to the unit price of 1,568,000 KRW (1,300 USD) per person for the radiation exposure tests applied by the Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (KIRAMS) in 2017-2018, it would take 253,760,000 KRW (211,000 USD) to test all 160 escapees who had lived in Kilju County after 2006 and 1,397,266,000 KRW (1,164,000 USD) to test all 881 escapees from the areas near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site.

TJWG, mindful of the seriousness and transboundary nature of the risk of nuclear leakage and contamination, recommends the following to governments, international organizations and other stakeholders:

·  The North Korean government: a complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization (CVID); a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation and disclosure of its findings; notification of the risk and other protective measures for the people in the 8 cities and counties near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, testing of agricultural and marine products.

·  The South Korean government: the disclosure of the full reports for the radiation exposure tests conducted in 2017 and 2018; notification of the risk for the North Korean escapees who had lived in the 8 cities and counties near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site after 2006 and resumption of tests; strengthened inspection of agricultural and marine products from North Korea; and the insertion of the risk of Punggye-ri’s radioactive contamination in statements and resolutions concerning North Korea’s nuclear development and human rights situation.

·  The Chinese government: the disclosure of past radioactive environment survey results; strengthened inspection of agricultural and marine productsfrom North Korea; and the insertion of the risk of Punggye-ri’s radioactive contamination in statements and resolutions concerning North Korea’s nuclear development and human rights situation. ·  The Japanese government: strengthened inspection of agricultural and marine products from North Korea; and the insertion of the risk of Punggye-ri’s radioactive contamination in statements and resolutions concerning North Korea’s nuclear development and human rights situation.

·  Other governments and regional bodies: the insertion of the risk of Punggye-ri’s radioactive contamination in statements and resolutions concerning North Korea’s nuclear development and human rights situation; and publicization by governments, human rights ambassadors, human rights reports as well as parliamentary resolutions and reports.

·  UN: inclusion of the risk of Punggye-ri’s radioactive contamination in the North Korean security and human rights agenda at the UN Security Council, General Assembly and Human Rights Council; and publicization through the UN special procedures mandate holders, North Korea’s 4th cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in October/November 2024 and the monitoring committees of core human rights treaties to which North Korea is a party.

·  IAEA: call for North Korea’s investigation of the risk of radioactive leakage and contamination from the Punggye-ri nuclear test site based on the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident and the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency which North Korea signed in 1986.

·  Civil society, media, and ordinary citizens: call for a prompt, effective, thorough, independent and impartial investigation and urge the governments and international organizations to take the measures stated above.

(1) Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, ”Pillay urges more attention to human rights abuses in North Korea, calls for international inquiry”, January 14, 2013, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/ 2013/01/ pillay-urges-more-attention-human-rights-abuses-north-korea-calls?LangID=E&NewsID=12923.

(2) United Nations Human Rights Council, Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, A/HRC/25/63, February 7, 2014, ¶ 51, https://undocs.org/A/HRC/25/63.

(3) “N. Korea carrying out construction at Punggye-ri nuclear test site: sources”, Yonhap News Agency, March 27, 2022, https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220327001200325; Peter Makowski, Jack Liu, and Olli Heinonen, “Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site: New Activity at the Command Center Area”, 38 North, May 5, 2022, https:// www.38north.org/2022/05/punggye-ri-nuclear-test-site-new-activity-at-the….