Kim Jong-un's First Decade in Power - Health of the Man

Note: this was originally going to be a single article detailing healthcare in North Korea, with the first half being on the health of Kim Jong-un and the second half focusing on the general state of healthcare and medicine in the country. However, due to length, I have decided to split the article into two separate ones, divided among the same two topics: health of the man and health of the nation. "Health of the Nation" will be published in the upcoming days. 

Sensationalized headline by the celebrity gossip website TMZ repeating totally unfounded claims that Kim Jong-un may have died in April 2020. Image: Screenshot of April 25, 2020 ‘breaking news’ article headline.

Introduction

   The health of a nation’s leader and the health of the population are two factors that can have an outsized role in determining the course of history, yet it is often overlooked. Immediate, visible existential threats like invading armies or economic collapse occupy far more of a government’s attention, while invisible germs or quietly ticking clogged arteries remain out of sight and all too often out of mind.

However, history is filled with the turning tides of war, the rise and fall of empires, and revolutions that are either partially or largely based on matters of health.

U.S president Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke in 1919 that severely hampered his ability to promote the League of Nations Treaty within the United States, leading to its ultimate failure in the Senate. Without the support of the United States, the weakened League’s ability to enforce its own resolutions and maintain future peace enabled the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, Japan’s invasion of Chinese territories, and eventually lead to the Second World War as Germany began to systematically violate treaties and ignore post-WWI obligations.

Adolf Hitler’s continual drug use after 1941 fueled his innate sense of infallibility and compounded his manic episodes. Coupled with his lack of military knowledge, his addled brain brought about some of the greatest military disasters in history.

 

   While the leaders of North Korea are painted in semi-divine terms by state propaganda, they are, in fact, just men. Kim Il-sung died of heart failure. Kim Jong-il suffered a major stroke and then died of a heart attack three years later.

And even though Kim Jong-un came into power at a young age, his health then as now has been the subject of much discussion and concern. The illness of any leader can cause instability within a country, and as Kim currently lacks any adult heirs, an unpredictable succession could have major consequences both domestically and internationally.

Surgeries, long periods of disappearance, and even rumors of his death have dogged his first ten years in power.

As such, while Kim Jong-un can boast some legitimate accomplishments in other areas, the history of his first decade with regard to his own health can only be given a middling score.

Health of the Man

Kim Jong-un with his walking cane visible in this KCNA image dated Oct. 14, 2014.

   Nearly everyone can find some genetic history of illness in their family. Heart disease, cancer, dementia, these things are common to have in your family. But most people manage to live long, healthy lives regardless and one’s lifestyle plays a huge role in this.

For Kim Jong-un, heart disease runs in his family. It’s also likely that other conditions like high cholesterol and atherosclerosis affected both his father and grandfather, but we have little direct evidence of this.

As a teenager, Kim’s lifestyle would have placed him on a better health footing than genetics may have suggested. He was athletically inclined, loved playing basketball (even had an aggressive streak), and he enjoyed spending time at the family’s seaside villa at Wonsan which offers multiple types of recreation.

But as he got older, he began to put on weight and when he came to power at the age of 27, he may have weighed as much as 90 kg (198 lbs) while being 5’ 7” tall. This would have given him a body-mass index (BMI) of 31, making him clinically obese.

Both his predecessors also put on weight as the years wore on, fueled by extremely rich foods and copious amounts of alcohol.

Kim Jong-il once remarked that he didn’t trust people who wouldn’t get drunk during parties. And he was known to be Hennessy’s largest non-corporate customer, importing $700,000 worth of Paradis cognac in one year alone to keep himself and his friends suitably lubricated.

This raises the specter of alcoholism within the family as well which would compound any predisposition to other illnesses. I don’t mention alcoholism just because Kim Jong-il enjoyed parties, but because his sister (Kim Jong-un’s aunt), Kim Kyong-hui, has struggled with the disease for many years and because alcoholism is known to be common among North Korea’s elite.

There is little to suggest that Kim Jong-un does not enjoy an equally spiritous lifestyle.

Pointing to this is the theory that Kim suffered from gout in the early years of his reign. After being out of the public eye for forty days, Kim Jong-un appeared in public again on Oct. 13, 2014 but needed a walking stick to help him get around.

South Korean intelligence said that he had undergone a procedure on his foot; however, that belies what could have been a more complicated truth.

Media commentators and North Korea watchers speculated that he was more likely suffering from gout, a condition where uric acid builds up in the joints and causes a wide range of painful symptoms. Major contributing causes to gout include having a diet high in fats and sugars, drinking, and smoking.

Gout can also cause tophi, hardened deposits of uric acid on the joints. One place they tend to develop on is the Achilles tendon.

Kim continued to use the cane for three weeks.

Of course, none of this is conclusive that he had gout and it’s never a good idea to do armchair diagnoses, but it is one reasonable possibility to explain why someone with his history and lifestyle would also need a cane for weeks.

What is known without doubt is his family history of heart disease and stroke, and that he is obese, eats an unhealthy diet, smokes, and has a history of minor surgery.

 

   Kim’s smoking is both a family trait and a national pastime. Some 46.1% of North Korean men smoke cigarettes daily, compared to 15.3% in the U.S.

Kim has tried to stop smoking at least twice, in 2016 and in 2020. Each of those years was also times when the regime promoted anti-smoking campaigns. In 2020, Kim actually banned smoking in public places.

The issue of Kim’s smoking even came up during a March 2018 meeting with South Korea National Security Advisor Chung Eui-yong, as Kim’s wife, Ri Sol-ju, said she had been wanting him to stop smoking for years. Unfortunately, smoking can be a very hard habit to break and he is still seen with a lit cigarette in many of the official photographs released by state media.

A portly Kim Jong-un walking around Ryomyong Street in Pyongyang. Image: KCNA, Jan. 26, 2017.

 

   By 2015, his weight had further ballooned, possibly to as high as 130 kg (286 lbs), giving a BMI of nearly 45. This level of weight gain, if the estimates are accurate, would drastically increase his risks for developing diabetes, liver steatosis (fatty liver) – made even worse by drinking alcohol – and would require his heart to work harder, almost certainly leading to heart disease at a younger age.

Making understanding his health situation more difficult is that speculations on the health of the Kim family, replete with lurid tales about their lifestyles, have long been fodder for tabloid writers and intelligence agencies alike. Western reporters often lack translators (or perhaps just the discipline) to correctly divine whether or not a story is coming from a satirical online discussion board or is legitimate breaking news, and foreign intelligence agencies lack the resources required (both human and electronic) to get close to the leadership to validate or refute every rumor that pops up.

South Korean media, in particular, have an unfortunate reputation for getting things wrong when it comes to North Korea or for taking a mere suggestion from an “unnamed intelligence officer” and running with it as though it were the gospel truth.

There have been numerous examples where stories of one or another North Korean official is reported to have been executed – with no substantial evidence, and then the story gets copied and repeated in otherwise legitimate media around the world only to have said official show up days or months later.

And things haven’t been any better regarding reporting on Kim Jong-un. In 2016 a baseless rumor about his death was picked up and reported as fact. Such shocking news caused defense stocks to temporarily rise and the South Korean won to fall.

The fake story even claimed that the Korean Central News Agency had announced the news. All anyone had to do was to check the KCNA website. Absolutely no such official story existed. And yet, by the next day, 115 articles had been written on the topic and it began to make the rounds internationally.

Needless to say, Kim wasn’t dead. But this highlights the dangers of not checking sources first and exchanging one’s journalistic standards to post sensational and clickbait-y stories.

Unfortunately, such lessons never get learned.

 

   In 2020, Kim Jong-un was not seen visiting the Kumsusan Memorial Palace (Kim Il-sung’s and Kim Jong-il’s mausoleum) for the April 15 Day of the Sun ceremony, the country’s most important holiday. It was the first time he missed taking part in the ceremony since coming to power.

Missing such an important event sparked many questions. Soon after, DailyNK reported, based on an unnamed source inside North Korea, that Kim Jong-un had undergone a heart procedure at the exclusive Hyangsan Hospital on April 12 and was recuperating. It gave few other details but was clear in that Kim was stable and resting at one of his villas.

It wasn’t long after this that other reports started claiming he was in critical condition, brain dead, in a coma, and even dead. Many of these false reports claimed to be citing DailyNK, even though nothing in the DailyNK article could be construed to mean he was near death.

This absolute journalistic negligence didn’t even stop when 38 North reported, with clear satellite images to back it up, that Kim Jong-un’s armored train had been sitting at Wonsan Palace since April 21 and reports by others that leisure boats from the palace had been moved around the bay. The combination of evidence made it almost certain that Kim Jong-un was not only alive but had moved from Pyongyang to spend the rest of his recovery time at his favorite residence.

The rumor mill didn’t finally stop until both U.S. and South Korean officials came out and said they agreed with the assessment that he underwent a medical procedure and that he was alive and there were no indications of anything more serious.

Kim finally reappeared in public on May 1 during the official opening of the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory. There was continued speculation about his recovery, but as Jefferey Lewis remarked on Twitter, “Well, I wouldn't say Kim looks healthy, but he definitely doesn't look dead.”

All three Kim’s have disappeared from view on multiple occasions, but those periods don’t always concern ill health. The birth of a new child, taking vacations, or simply needing time to reflect on new policies can drag even the most spotlight-loving dictator away from making daily appearances.

However, there has been one other recent absence that did restart discussions about his health.

 

   After missing for a few weeks, Kim Jong-un oversaw a parade celebrating the country’s 73^rd founding anniversary on Sept. 9, 2021. The nighttime parade offered a lot for observers to discuss (like the inclusion of civilian emergency personnel) but it was Kim Jong-un’s physical appearance that also caught attention.

He had lost a noticeable amount of weight and had an overall better look and energy level than in the past. Further appearances substantiated the initial assessment that he had, indeed, lost significant weight.

It was first reported that he may have lost between 10 and 20 kg (22-44 lbs.). More recent images of him at the end of 2021 places the weight loss at the higher end of that estimate and also show that he is managing to keep the weight off for now. Although he would still be considered obese for his height (his thinner weight is still between 117 and 120 kg (258-264 lbs.)), it is a good start.

His mobility and breathing have visibly improved as a result as well.

The weight loss doesn’t only have a positive impact on his health, which seemed to be deteriorating over time. Particularly after the DPRK-US summit process collapsed and as North Korea faces tremendous economic problems due to COVID-19, Kim must be seen as a vigorous leader. His “on the spot guidance” tours, pioneered by Kim Il-sung, are an integral part of his rule, and the only way to keep such an active touring schedule is to maintain a certain level of health.

Additionally, gossip within North Korea by average people about his weight had increased over the course of his first decade. Even though such talk against the “highest dignity” is illegal, gossip, jokes, and criticisms about him routinely spread. In a country of chronically undernourished people and after he raised the specter of additional “belt tightening”, being caricatured as the plump Supreme Leader poses a threat.

These concerns over the people’s opinion of Kim have not just shown up in secret government meetings. State media has publicly addressed his weight loss, implying that Kim was eating less to help the country, harkening back to the days of the famine when Kim Jong-il was reputed to only eat a single bowl of rice a day. So, his thinner look pays both political and health dividends for the leader.

 

   The leaders of North Korea are no different than any other person in their desire to live as long as possible, but they do have far greater resources to apply to accomplishing that. To reach for that goal, a secretive research organization was established during the rule of Kim Il-sung, the Longevity Research Institute, to help keep him happy, healthy and living as long as possible through the use of herbal and folk medicine mixed in with modern medical science (along with practices of questionable ethics and effectiveness).

The Institute continued its activities throughout the life of Kim Jong-il, with 130 doctors and scientists eventually being involved. While there has only been indirect evidence that the Institute is involved in Kim Jong-un’s life, it is likely they’re working hard to keep the third generation of Kim going.

 

   With all of the real (and imagined) health problems Kim Jong-un has faced, governments and pundits around the world have been contemplating his eventual death. What would the aftermath of his sudden death mean? Can there be yet another dynastic succession? What about who controls the nuclear weapons? Who could maintain internal stability?

These and other questions were all raised during his 2020 absence and literally thousands of articles and reports were written to try to answer them.

I myself wrote three. One for AccessDPRK, one as part of a digital symposium by The National Interest, and one discussing the future of the Kim family cult after his death for Asia Times.

The opacity of North Korea’s governing system and a lack of knowledge about any official succession or continuity of government plans renders discussions about Kim Jong-un’s incapacitation or death little more than speculation, but his health must be considered to be part of North Korea’s national security planning. And until his children reach adulthood, there will be an extra layer of doubt and concern over his health and what might happen in the future.

Conclusions

   With no clear heir, the status of Kim Jong-un’s health does become more pressing. Although Kim does not engender the same devotion and loyalty as Kim Il-sung, and although it is unlikely that he has the same level of absolute control over the state as previous generations of Kim have held, Kim Jong-un is still the center spoke for a nuclear-armed nation.

With the family medical history such as it is, his recent weight loss could be the first concrete sign that his health has been precarious, and that he is now taking steps to ensure his survival and the continuance of the regime.

There are also hints that Kim has begun to make subtle reforms to the country’s laws and to the rules of the Workers’ Party that would theoretically enable someone other than him or a direct heir to one day rule the country. These changes may only be temporary steps to shore up the regime in the event of his demise, changes that could be reversed once an official successor is named, but they are nonetheless incredibly important and exhibit a level of foresightedness in the face of his medical history.

To directly address Kim Jong-un’s health, his surgeries point to a relatively young man that may be facing some serious medical issues. His weight loss is a concrete step toward warding off everything from heart disease to diabetes, but he will need to go further still. He must eventually stop smoking and his diet is going to have to change substantially if he wishes to live – healthily – into his 80s.

Another move would be to lower his stress levels. Genuinely placing focus on the people’s health and wellbeing and working to finally solve longstanding issues like food shortages would benefit Kim and the 25 million others living in North Korea. Of course, if history is any guide, this is unlikely.

~ ~ ~ ~

I have scheduled this project to run through to the end of the year, with a new article coming out roughly every 10 days or so. If you would like to support the project and help me with research costs, please consider supporting AccessDPRK on Patreon. Those supporters donating $15 or more each month will be entitled to a final PDF version of all the articles together that will also have additional information included once the series is finished. They will also receive a Google Earth map related to the events in the series, and can get access to the underlying data behind the supplemental reports.

Supporters at other levels will be sent each new article a day before it’s published and will also receive a mention as seen below.

 

I would like to thank my current Patreon supporters: Amanda O., GreatPoppo, Joel Parish, John Pike, Kbechs87, and Russ Johnson.

--Jacob Bogle, 1/15/2022

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Kim Jong Un: Wanted, Dead or Alive

Kim Jong Un hasn't been seen in public since April 11. While the occasional absence isn't unusual, he missed the April 15 "Day of the Sun" holiday for the first time ever. The Day of the Sun celebrates the birth of his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, who founded the state. It's a very important holiday in North Korea and his lack of attendance sent the worldwide rumor mill into motion. Each day since has only added confusion and intensified the mystery.

Does he have coronavirus? Did he have a heart attack? Is being held hostage as his sister or uncle orchestrate a coup with the help of powerful generals? Maybe he's just tired of being in the spotlight all the time and needs a break? Or perhaps he was injured by flying shrapnel during an artillery exercise?

The speculation surrounding his health began in earnest when the DailyNK published a report based on a single unnamed source that claimed Kim had undergone a heart procedure at a special hospital based in Hyangsan and is recuperating.

Within about 48 hours, even reputable media descended into saying he was gravely ill or brain dead, and that a crisis was about to unfold. None of that, absolutely none of it, was supported by the initial report. Since then, some have even gone so far as to claim he's actually dead. And the usual suspects like Gordon Chang have jumped at the opportunity to stir the pot.

North Korea is already a very opaque state and they are not in the habit of publicly discussing the health of their supreme leader. Why should they? It would only invite internal dissent, discredit the idea that the Kim's are somehow special humans, and could court disaster from both within and without. So there has been no direct reference to either his health or whereabouts by state media.

With some notable exceptions, the international press has generally not made things any clearer. Their instance on speculation and running with the most sensationalist headlines has only served to make the waters more murky and caused many people a lot of unnecessary stress, as they add concerns over "lose nukes" to the already considerable stress caused by the global pandemic.

So what, exactly, are the facts? What do we know or at least what is most probable given the evidence?

Two weeks after his disappearance from public view, both the United States and South Korea have made claims that Kim is indeed alive and that he is staying at his seaside palace in Wonsan.

The general consensus of more rational media sources, unnamed officials, and official statements paints this picture: sometime in April Kim had a medical procedure and has since been resting in Wonsan.

Even the unverified claim that a Chinese medical delegation was sent in to help isn't unusual. From Muammar Gadaffi to Kim Jong Il, dictators with limited access to advanced medical equipment and expertise often seek the aid of foreign doctors. Indeed, Kim Jong Un was seen by a French doctor in 2014.

When it comes to what we know (or is most probable), that's basically it.

Lending support to that picture is the fact that commercial satellite imagery has shown one of Kim's armored trains parked at Wonsan since at least April 21. This also makes sense because in the original report from DailyNK, they said he had been recovering at a villa near Pyongyang immediately after surgery. After spending a week or so at that villa, he may be feeling well enough to venture to his favorite home.

Wonsan is not just the best equipped seaside residence in North Korea, it happens to be the place where Kim spent much of his youth outside of Pyongyang and Switzerland.

However, that alone is not conclusive evidence of anything as Kim is said to have at least three trains. His movements are always tightly guarded, and a second train will be used as decoy to help obfuscate his real movements (something he learned from his father). However, lending more credibility to the idea that he's in Wonsan comes from a report which cites an unnamed US official who said that Kim was spotted (via US reconnaissance aircraft) walking outside between April 15 and 20.

Additionally, Moon Chung-in, adviser to the South Korean president, has said that the official position of the ROK government is that Kim is "alive and well". As recently as April 27, President Trump has said that he knows the status of Kim and did not give any indication that he was dead or no longer able to govern the country.

It's important to remember that this is not the first time Kim has gone missing. He disappeared for about six weeks in 2014 after having an apparent procedure done on his ankle.

Kim Jong Un isn't the best example of health. Although he is only 36 years old, he is morbidly obese and is a heavy smoker. Adding to that is a family history of cardiovascular disease and stroke. So it's perfectly understandable for people to wonder about his health. What isn't normal is for journalists to gleefully speculate about his current condition as though it were fact.

There is nothing in any valid public source that would indicate anything more than he is in recovery.

And while I am personally content to read the tea leaves and wait until he shows back up (his dad went missing for nearly two months after his stroke), I am also getting tired of seeing extravagant speculation and rumor spreading. It may have made April slightly more exciting as I (like many of us) sit at home, forbidden to visit favorite restaurants or friends, but it has also consumed an inordinate amount of time to tamp down wild theories.

This is a view I believe I share with many other analysts. Yes, we're all very curious, but one can only say for certain what one knows. And the only ones who know much of anything right now are Kim Jong Un and his associates.

Dead or alive, it's only a matter of time before we know the facts. Turning what could be a simple heart procedure into a sordid dynastic succession struggle between Kim, his sister, and his uncle may make people click on links, but it does little to advance the cause of truth and violates the trust media, analysts, and other experts are supposed to engender.


I would like to thank my current Patreon supporters: Amanda O., GreatPoppo, Kbechs87, Planefag, Russ Johnson, and Travis Murdock.

--Jacob Bogle, 4/27/2020
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Nuclear Fallout Part II: the health consequences of Pyongyang's nuclear program

Pollution and health risks exists at every point along the nuclear weapons’ development chain, from the initial mining and milling operations to the enrichment process, and finally from testing nuclear devices. In this two-part article I will examine each of those areas and the health risks associated with them.

In this second part, I finish discussing the health consequences of North Korea’s nuclear program by examining issues related to their underground testing. (Part I can be read here.)

Testing

After producing the needed nuclear fuel and solving the other matters associated with creating a nuclear device, the next step is testing.

After decades of work the regime was able to test its first nuclear device in 2006. The underground test was carried out within Mount Mantap at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site. However, there is no such thing as a safe nuclear test, even when they’re underground. The original tunnel for the 2006 test was closed up shortly after the test as a result of radiation releases according to 38 North. Since 2006, five additional tests have been carried out in different tunnels. Further reporting indicates that another delayed leak was also detected as a result of post-tunneling activities in 2013.

Even under the best circumstances, underground nuclear testing still can release some radionuclides into the atmosphere. Less than optimal testing can pose a much greater radiation risk to those downwind of the test site. Initial radiation releases from a containment failure occur through “venting” but releases can continue for longer through “seeps”, where radiation finds its way out of the underground site through small fissures and openings in the overlying rock. Radioisotopes of xenon (such as ¹³³Xe and ¹³⁵Xe) are almost impossible to contain and can travel across the globe, as Canadian detectors picked them up after the very low-yield 2006 test.

Punggye-ri is in a mountainous area with little population but the main tunnel entrances are less than 2 miles away from the boundary of the Hwasong Concentration Camp. Due to the extreme human rights violations facing prisoners, we can’t hear their stories or send professionals over to determine how much radiation they have been exposed to. Residents within the larger area, however, have been able get their experiences to the broader world.

In 2017, South Korea reported that four defectors who lived in the area around Punggye-ri showed signs of radiation exposure. Defector Lee Jeong Hwa, who lived in Kilju County, said, "So many people died we began calling it 'ghost disease’…We thought we were dying because we were poor and we ate badly. Now we know it was the radiation." Unfortunately, the inability to do detailed testing on people still living in the area and gather more definitive evidence prevents us from knowing the full effects of the testing.

Negative health impacts from underground nuclear testing is easily supported by looking at the results of underground testing in the United States. According to the US National Cancer Institute, some 2,800 annual cases of thyroid cancer within the US can be attributed to the “underground era” of 1962-1992, when the United States (and the Soviet Union) was limited to testing nuclear devices underground by treaty. While North Korea has only had a limited number of tests, those tests have increased radiation levels for the region and caused an unknown level of damage to the population. Of particular concern are the 20,000 Hwasong prisoners, who are also suspected of being used as slave labor to help dig the tunnels used at Punggye-ri.

The stability of portions of Mount Mantap is also of concern after six tests, and surface changes as a result of ground shifting have been studied in detail. The first two (of four) tunnels are likely to be unusable for any future testing. Worries over accidental radiation releases from collapsing tunnels spurred China to install additional radiation detectors along their border with North Korea in 2017 and at a newly constructed border crossing in 2019.

The other two tunnels exist to the west and south and have not been used to-date. Their entrances were demolished in May 2018; however, questions remain about the irreversibility of those closures.

Occasional rumors of a possible future above-ground test (for which there are very few potential testing sites) raises the stakes even more. Radiation would flood over Japan and would reverse decades of atmospheric radionuclide decline around the globe.

Conclusion

The known risks associated with the chemicals and processes involved in mining, milling, and enriching uranium, as well as in the production of other radioactive materials, supports the descriptions of illnesses as told by unrelated sources, each with first-hand knowledge of the locations discussed.

Despite the guarantees of the North Korean constitution and international law regarding the right to favorable working conditions and the right to pick one’s career (or to leave it), expert and defector testimonies, coupled with satellite imagery, paints a very different and dangerous story. It can be said that a major humanitarian and health crisis is brewing within North Korea as we know the substandard state of their nuclear program – not just in terms of technology but also safety.

Most of the facilities within Punggye-ri’s 17-kilometer-long compound still stand, waiting to be used again. Yongbyon continues to grow and thousands of additional scientists, laborers, and their families have been moved in under Kim Jong Un. The mines and milling plants still produce materials to be sent to enrichment facilities. And the regime keeps working on their abilities to deliver ballistic missiles to any part of the globe. It is clear that the sixty years of nuclear harm now affecting the tens of thousands of North Koreans who have worked to develop Pyongyang’s nuclear program over three generations of Kim will continue into the future, causing more harm, more sickness, and will likely require the efforts of multiple countries to finally resolve once the Kim Era is over.

I would like to thank my current Patreon supporters: Kbechs87, GreatPoppo, and Planefag.

Jacob Bogle, 12/26/2019

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Nuclear Fallout Part I: The health consequences of Pyongyang’s nuclear program

Pollution and health risks exists at every point along the nuclear weapons’ development chain, from the initial mining and milling operations to the enrichment process, and finally from testing nuclear devices. In this two-part series I will examine each of those areas and the health risks associated with them.

In this first part, I will give a short introduction to the history of North Korea’s nuclear program and then discuss the health risks found within the uranium mining and milling process and the production of nuclear fuel. (Read Part II here) 

Image source: Sakucae/2.0

Introduction

North Korea can trace its nuclear program to soon after the Korean War. After the war’s total devastation, Kim Il Sung vowed that the country would never again be flattened, and he sought Soviet assistance in creating Pyongyang’s own nuclear deterrent. Marshall Stalin and future Soviet leaders weren’t too keen on Kim’s aspirations initially, but they did offer help with the development of nuclear power and signed a nuclear cooperation agreement in 1959. Never one to let an opportunity go to waste, Kim Il Sung ordered secret research into building the A-bomb.

Yongbyon, North Korea’s main nuclear research center, was constructed in the 1960s with help from the Soviet Union. Further facilities across the country were constructed that were needed to mine the uranium, mill it, and finally, to enrich it. The country has two known milling facilities, one at at Pakchon and Pyongsan, and around dozen suspected uranium mining sites. Pakchon and Pyongsan process low-grade coal to concentrate the uranium naturally found within it (at relatively low concentrations) and then to turn it into yellowcake where the uranium concentration reaches 80%. From there it is sent to additional facilities including Yongbyon, some of which have likely not been declared by North Korea to the international community.

Mining and milling

North Korea is one of only seven countries that are not signatories to the International Labor Organization. This United Nations agency sets international labor standards, including those for nuclear research and industry. Furthermore, the country’s mining sector is notoriously dangerous and lacks modern safety precautions and necessary equipment. Injuries and respiratory diseases are common, particularly in coal mines which is where North Korea gets the bulk of its uranium. The country’s two largest uranium mines, Pyongsan and Woogi-ri (within the Undok-Rason area), hold an estimated 11.5 million tonnes of ore and employ thousands of workers.

The inhuman treatment of workers at Pyongsan, and severe negligence regarding monitoring radiation exposure and air quality was given in testimony by Dr. Shin Chang-hoon before the U.S House in 2014.

Once the ore leaves the mines, it is transported to the milling plants to be converted into yellowcake. Even though coal itself is generally considered safe to handle, every form of uranium extraction leaves behind dangerous waste.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency,

"regardless of how uranium is extracted from rock, the processes leave behind radioactive waste....The tailings remain radioactive and contain hazardous chemicals from the recovery process."

 Google Earth image showing the residue of leaked waste material at both ends of the waste transfer pipe.

The Pyongsan milling plant is a prime example of the environmental damage done within North Korea’s nuclear sector. Satellite imagery shows that the country’s primary milling facility has been spilling industrial waste into the Ryesong River for decades, and that the waste material reservoir is unlined. This can allow contaminated water to seep into groundwater supplies and also contaminate crops. Hundreds of thousands live within the area of Pyongsan and downriver of the plant.

Non-proliferation expert Dr. Jeffrey Lewis summed it up nicely in 2015 when he said, “What is definitely happening, though, is that North Korea is dumping the tailings from the plant into an unlined pond, one surrounded by farms. That’s not a hypothetical harm.  That’s actual pollution that is harming the health and well being of the local community."

At Pakchon, which began uranium milling around 1982, a former waste reservoir is now covered in cultivated land. This practice can be seen at many mining and industrial sites. If the waste isn’t properly covered, any crops grown over this material may become contaminated with heavy metals such as vanadium and chromium, as well as lead and arsenic. Those contaminates are passed up the food-chain into animals and humans.

Image showing that a former waste reservoir is now farmland and the plant’s proximity to a river.

According to defector Kim Tae-ho, who worked at Pakchon in the 1990s, when the “experimental plant” would operate, yellow smoke would fill the plant and cause “severe difficult breathing and unbearable pain.” The short-term effect of inhaling yellowcake particles is primarily kidney damage which will resolve itself unless there is recurrent exposure (such as from working at the site each day). However, the main radiological risk comes from the radioactive gas radon and its non-gaseous “daughters” like polonium-218. Improperly vented air can lead to a build up of these radioactive materials and will cause immediate tissue damage to the lungs and mucus membranes. Additionally, the use of acids in the production process raises the risk for inhalation of sulfur-containing gases (which can have a yellow tint to them) and cause irritation and eventually burns to the eyes and lungs.

Pakchon and Pyongsan are combined mine and milling facilities, but illnesses and food contamination have been reported at stand-alone mines as well, such as at the Walbisan uranium mine (near Sunchon).

Sources told Radio Free Asia that, “local residents are forced to eat radioactive food and drink radioactive water,” and “[i]n Tongam village, the miners and their families suffer from incurable diseases or various types of cancer. In particular, many people die of liver cancer.”

Enrichment and fuel production

Even within the uranium enrichment compound, almost every inch of available land has been cultivated.

The next steps along the nuclear development chain happen at Yongbyon. The complex exists as a closed-city and people are not free to enter or exit without permission. Scientists, engineers, and others may work for many years within the fenced off complex. They will marry and will raise children.

While being able to work within a prominent field brings many benefits, it also brings risks. Brief exposure to radiation is rarely dangerous. Short exposure risks are also not catastrophic when it comes to inheritable genetic damage, either, as the world learned from the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But continual exposure because you’re living in a contaminated environment increases those risks each day. This concern grows when you consider that in recent years, dozens of new buildings have been constructed with room for thousands more residents.

Scientists who were involved during the early days of Yongbyon’s operation have been reported to have suffered from wasting illnesses and hair loss.

Fast-forward to 2019, a former resident of Yongbyon told DailyNK,

"In other districts it is very difficult to find people with cleft lip but here there are many individuals with crooked mouths, those lacking eyebrows, incidents of dwarfism, and those with six fingers. There are even children who just look like bare bones."

Adults can also be affected, with the most severe cases eventually causing mental deficiencies, cancers, and wide array of other illnesses at relatively young ages.

The aforementioned Dr. Shin Chang-hoon also interviewed a defector who worked at Yongbyon. He was told that the dosimeters (which measure radiation exposure) were only checked every three months and workers were not told of the results unless they had already begun to exhibit signs of radiation sickness.

Adjacent to an area of improperly stored nuclear waste is a grove of dying trees and farmland. It is only separated from the waste by a covering of dirt.

Improper disposal of radioactive materials can pollute the soil, kill trees, and contaminate any food that is grown in the area. Releases of gases into the atmosphere will likewise blanket the region and small, aerosolized particles will eventually make their way down to the ground, bringing with them radiation or forming toxic compounds. These gases can travel for many miles and place other sites within North Korea at greater risk, not just the immediate Yongbyon complex.

Concern over Yongbyon is especially grave considering the large number of nuclear and chemical facilities in such a small area. Not just in terms of ongoing dangers that defectors have told the world about, but also in terms of a future accident, flood, or fire that could devastate the region and require international intervention to solve. 

The fact North Korea is largely cut off from the world and often must rely on outdated science, manufacturing techniques, and potentially unreliable indigenously produced parts and equipment means that the risk of accidents and errors is greater than in other nuclear countries. It is something of a small miracle that a large-scale incident hasn’t already occurred.

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--Jacob Bogle, 12/22/2019
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