There is a joke in China that the North Korean’s have two weapons of mass destruction: nukes and tuberculosis (TB). And not just TB, but multidrug resistant TB – which knows no boundaries or borders, and is spread person-to-person through the air. The country is also experiencing exceptionally high rates of malaria and hepatitis B.
On Sunday afternoon (EST) President Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to cross from South Korea into North Korea (in a demilitarized zone dividing the two countries). The goal was to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in a diplomatic effort to discuss the denuclearization of North Korea. But the country poses much more of a global deadly force and significant security concern than just nuclear weapons.
Despite claims from North Korean media that the country developed a cure-all drug that has eradicated HIV/Aids, cancer and Ebola from the entire country, the truth is that there are millions of lives hanging in the balance, needing access to basic necessities like clean water, food and vaccinations. And without those, an estimated 60,000 children will starve, millions of adults will live with communicable diseases other regions of the world have eradicated, and the world will continue to fight North Korean weapons that are only a part of a much more deadly problem.
Of the 25 million citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), more than 40% of citizens (10.5 million people) are considered undernourished, and millions more have little food. Thus, humanitarian aid could go a long way in fighting the health decay of North Koreans and the mass human rights violations that occur by direct order of the Kim family. Aid that could help prevent the spread of infectious and contagious diseases to other countries, including the U.S.
Despite President Trump saying that he received another “beautiful” letter from Kim Jung Un, and hoped that the connection would lead to an agreement over nuclear weapons. But threats from North Korea extend far beyond nuclear weapons. And it is imperative that biologic threats are also on the negotiating table, as a means of diplomacy.
A Long And Troubling Past
North Korea has undoubtedly faced many natural and man-made disasters in recent decades. The greatest of which appear to stem from the economic collapse in the 1990s and subsequent deterioration of the citizens in the country. Since that time there has been a sharp decline in life expectancy – 12 years less than their genetic peers in South Korea. The North Koreans are also estimated to be 1-3 inches shorter than South Koreans, primarily due to chronic malnutrition and extreme poverty. At The Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), experts contend that health decline is a direct result of choices and priorities made distinctly by the Kim family to create politically defined castes and introduce famine to the masses so that military efforts could be funded.
To understand a culture and a people, you must understand more than the military – which is what most of the world seeks to understand about North Korea. Nuclear and biological weapons are of global security priority. But the focus cannot be limited to those weapons alone. It must also be on the status of the citizens, culture, economy, and most importantly, what happens during and after the Kim dynasty. What happens to North Koreans now, could have global implications when they leave their country’s borders in the near future.
While many health-related organizations have been able to skirt restrictions about entering the country for the purposes of health care, all signs point to a growing number of destructive diseases and shrinking number of professionals that can help. Which in turn means a growing body of diseases and human destruction just waiting to spill over the North Korean borders.
In fact, multiple sources have confirmed over the years that the political regime had strategically used food and starvation as tactics to control the people and get the United Nations and other visiting personnel to see whatever the North Korean elite wanted them to see. However, an early 2018 defector gave the world some insights into the status of the people, including the military, as it stands today. The soldier in question was cared for after crossing into South Korea with multiple bullet wounds. But what doctors found inside the man shocked even the most experienced doctors: dozens of parasites in his intestines and roundworms up to a foot long. It is believed that because North Korea does not have chemical fertilizer, farmers use human excrement – infamous for spreading parasites like the ones in the defectors stomach.
Can Diplomacy Make A Difference?
Though humanitarian exemptions are written into all sanctions against North Korea, recent years have seen mass exodus (ie: voluntary departures and expulsion) of nonprofit, nongovernmental (NGO) and aid organizations because basic principles of humanitarian action were forbidden. Even banking transfer systems have collapsed. And it’s been consistently reported by organizations like Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders that for decades medical supplies and food aid were not delivered to those who needed it. As recently as April of 2018 commodities funneled through China have been met with resistance, and the Global Fund reached a breaking point, declaring that it will be pulling out of the country within weeks.
However, as President Trump and Kim Jong-Un prepare for a potential meeting to discuss nuclear disarmament, the implications for global health hang in the balance. Even if nuclear weapon discussions go well (which few expect) the biologic situation is North Korea will likely grow worse. UN and humanitarian efforts will continue to be scaled back (meaning even less food, clean water and medical aid), and multidrug resistant TB and malaria stand to spread rapidly across the nation. Conversely, if diplomacy prevails – or talks are even allowed to advance – sanctions against North Korea could be decreased, and a flood of humanitarian aid and health care could enter the country. A victory for the entire world.
