Radiation Exposure

[Anchor Lead]

The Unification Ministry says that two North Korean defectors from Gilju County in Hamgyeongbuk-do Province may have been exposed to radiation. The North Koreans come from a region where the regime has tested nuclear weapons, but the ministry said there is no way to link their radiation exposure to the detonations.

[Pkg]

A radiation test was conducted on North Korean escapees from Gilju County, Hamgyeongbuk-do Province where North Korea carried out nuclear tests. The Unification Ministry said that the test shows a possibility that two escapees might have been exposed to radiation. The ministry explained that the figure accounts for six percent of the 30 people tested and that it is also impossible to confirm that they were exposed to radiation during a nuclear test. It added that no radiation contamination was found among the 30 escapees. It admitted that there are limitations to the test, such as the sample size and the amount of time passed since the 30 people escaped from the North. All of them fled from North Korea before the fourth nuclear test last year. The ministry plans to conduct more radiation tests on other North Korean escapees. Pyongyang carried out six nuclear tests in Gilju until September this year, spurring testimonies that those living near the nuclear test site are suffering from radiation leaks. From October to December 16th, the Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences conducted a radiation exposure test on 30 volunteers among 114 North Korean people who left Gilju County after October 2006 when the North carried out the first nuclear test.