&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "North Korean nuclear site at risk of radiation release left residents with mutations: Report")
North Korean defectors from the Punggye-ri area of North Hamgyong province, the country's only underground nuclear test site, have chromosomal mutations. According to a study conducted by South Korea's unification ministry, radiation has led to genetic changes in 64 of 214 North Koreans. This means every one in three of the defectors has mutations. The study was carried out over five years, with the latest series of tests being conducted last year.
The researchers noted that 26 out of 59 North Koreans who lived in eight cities and counties near Punggye-ri had chromosomal abnormalities. Notably, at least 800 people who resided in that part of North Korea have now settled in South Korea. An official at the National Radiation Emergency Medical Centre said that radiation from the nuclear tests carried out in the area was the most likely cause of these mutations.
While sharing the report with South Korea's National Assembly, the officials cautioned that it is possible that the changes are tied to environmental factors. More tests are needed to establish a clear link between the nuclear tests and the genetic changes, they said. They are now planning to carry out a fresh set of tests on 50 new defectors from North Korea, and 10 who had already been checked.
Nuclear tests at North Korean site
The Punggye-ri underground nuclear test site is no longer functional. The first nuclear test here was carried out in 2006, although it isn't clear whether it was a successful test of a small device or simply a fizzle. North Korea conducted two nuclear tests at the site in 2016. The next year, a collapse killed 200 workers. This led to warnings of radiation leaks by South Korea and China.
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Seoul said that further tests might cause a mountain to crash and trigger the release of radioactive material into the environment, while China cautioned that this release might spread across "an entire hemisphere". The government's mouthpiece KCNA said that the nuclear test ground had been dismantled and the tunnel entrances had closed. In 2022, analysts said that North Korea could be fixing it for nuclear cruise missile warhead tests.
