South Korea to test North Korean defectors for radiation exposure: Reports

The South Korean government said on Friday (February 24) that it would carry out radiation tests for more than 800 defectors from North Korea's nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, for possible radiation exposure.Punggye-ri is the main nuclear testing site of North Korea.

Lee Hyo-jung, the deputy spokesperson for South Korea's unification ministry said that radiation testing would be offered to North Koreans who lived in Kilju or nearby regions following Pyongyang's first nuclear tests in 2006, if they are willing.

“The ministry had tested some defectors from around the area before, but it was done with such a small sample size. For more meaningful results, the ministry plans on conducting the tests on a larger scale starting this year, with the consent of the defectors,” Hyo-jung said, according to a report by The Korea Herald. She added the tests would determine if the defectors were exposed to radiation generated by the nuclear tests, and how their health might have been affected.

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The ministry's announcement comes after a report by Seoul-based NGO Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) said that residents around Punggye-ri could be exposed to radioactive leaks or contamination. The TJWG estimated that up to half a million residents are at risk and called on the South Korean government to probe the risk and the possible extent of radiation exposure.

A report by the BBC on Friday said that North Korea had last tested a nuclear bomb in 2017- the most powerful test conducted at Punggye-ri. It said the tests were carried out safely. However, scientists for long raised fears that radioactive material might have escaped into surrounding soil and groundwater.

In 2019, South Korea's unification ministry stopped testing defectors for radiation exposure. And in 2017 and 2018, it tested 40 defectors from and around Kilju and found worrying levels of chromosomal abnormalities in nine of them. But it did not fully disclose the results and faced public criticism.

(With inputs from agencies)

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