Millions of people living in North Korea, China, South Korea, and Japan are at risk of getting exposed to nuclear radiation. The risk is due to the spread of radioactive material via groundwater from a Pyongyang test site.
North Korea: Millions at risk for nuclear radiation
A study conducted by the Transitional Justice Working Group, a Seoul-based human rights group revealed millions of citizens of North Korea and its neighboring nations are at a risk from nuclear radiation. The material spread through the groundwater from an underground nuclear test site operated by Pyongyang. As per the study, the radioactive materials may have spread across eight cities and nations near the location. Additionally, Japan, South Korea, and China may be at risk due to the smuggled agriculture and fishery products.
“This report is significant in showing that North Korea’s nuclear tests could threaten the right to life and health of not only the North Korean people but also of those in South Korea and other neighboring countries,” stated Hubert Young-hwan Lee. Lee is the co-author of the study and the group’s chief. The study was conducted by working with defectors, and medical and nuclear experts using open-source intelligence, UN reports, and government reports available to the public. The National Endowment for Democracy, an NPC funded by the US congress is backing the study.
More on the North Korean spillage
Earlier in 2015, South Korea’s food safety agency reported nine times the presence of standard levels of radioactive cesium isotopes in imported hedgehog mushrooms. The mushrooms originating from North Korea were sold as Chinese products. Following Pyongyang’s nuclear tests, both China and Japan have ramped up testing for nuclear radiation. As per a 2018 report, North Korea confiscated radiation detectors when it invited foreign press to witness the destruction of some of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site tunnels. With the new report, the human rights group is urging an international inquiry into the risks of nuclear radiation for communities around the test site.
