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North Korea
AsiaEast Asia

China, Japan, South Korea face radiation risks from North Korean nuclear tests: report

  • Contaminated groundwater and smuggled agricultural and fisheries products ‘could threaten the right to life and health’ of thousands, a study found
  • China and Japan ramped up radiation monitoring and expressed concerns over potential exposure following the North’s six previous nuclear tests

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un observes a weapons test in December. Pyongyang secretly conducted six tests of nuclear weapons between 2006 and 2017, and is thought to be preparing for a seventh. Photo: Korean Central News Agency via Reuters
Reuters
Tens of thousands of North Koreans and people in South Korea, Japan and China could be exposed to radioactive materials spread through groundwater from an underground nuclear test site, a Seoul-based human rights group said in a report on Tuesday.
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North Korea secretly conducted six tests of nuclear weapons at the Punggye-ri site in the mountainous North Hamgyong Province between 2006 and 2017, according to the US and South Korean governments.

The study by the Transitional Justice Working Group said radioactive materials could have spread across eight cities and counties near the site, where more than 1 million North Koreans live, and where groundwater is used in everyday lives including drinking.

It also said that neighbouring South Korea, China and Japan might be at risk due partly to agricultural and fisheries products smuggled from the North.

A boy holds a spade in a North Korean corn field in 2011. The Transitional Justice Working Group report said North Korea’s neighbours might be at risk from radiation partly because of smuggled agricultural products. Photo: Reuters
A boy holds a spade in a North Korean corn field in 2011. The Transitional Justice Working Group report said North Korea’s neighbours might be at risk from radiation partly because of smuggled agricultural products. Photo: Reuters

The group, formed in 2014, worked with nuclear and medical experts and defectors and used open source intelligence and publicly available government and UN reports for the study, which was backed by the National Endowment for Democracy, a non-profit corporation funded by the US Congress.

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