▲ This computer-created image from the Yonhap News Television shows North Korea's nuclear test site at Punggye-ri. (Yonhap)

NK defectors-radiation test

25 pct of N. Korean defectors from near Punggye-ri nuclear test site show chromosome mutations: data

SEOUL, March 23 (Yonhap) -- A quarter of North Korean defectors from regions near the northeastern Punggye-ri nuclear test site have shown chromosome mutations possibly attributable to exposure to radioactivity, data showed Monday.

Radioactive exposure tests conducted in 2024 by the Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences (KIRAMS) on 35 North Korean defectors from eight regions near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site found that 12 of them, or 34 percent, showed chromosome mutations possibly linked to radiation exposure, according to the unification ministry.

The regions include Kilju, Kimchaek and Paekam. Since 2006, the North has conducted all of its six nuclear tests at the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, located in Kilju County.

In similar tests conducted last year, 15 of 59 defectors tested showed possible chromosome mutations, bringing the total number of North Korean defectors with such findings to 44 out of 174 individuals tested between 2023-25, or 25 percent.

The tests measure levels of chromosome aberration in individuals to assess their accumulated radiation exposure, with the minimum detectable range set at 0.25 gray of absorbed radiation dose from radionuclides such as cesium and iodine.

None of those tested have been diagnosed with a radiation exposure-related cancer, and it remains unproven yet that the possible mutations were results of radiation exposure.

The tests were conducted as part of the ministry's research targeting North Korean defectors launched in 2023. A total of 800 defectors from eight regions near the nuclear test site have arrived in South Korea so far.

Under the previous Yoon Suk Yeol government, the project was scaled back, while the test results were withheld from public disclosure.

A KIRAMS official called it a "reasonable suspicion" to attribute the high rate of chromosome abnormalities to possible radiation exposure among defectors from the nuclear site region, emphasizing the need to continue the test project.

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]