EJÉRCITOS
Riesgo de agua subterránea en Corea del Norte
February 22, 2023 - En pruebas realizadas a 40 norcoreanos que desertaron del sitio depruebas nucleares de Punggye-ri se halló que al menos nueve sufríanalteraciones que indicaban exposición a radiación de agua subterránea.
According to the U.S. and South Korean governments, North Korea conducted six nuclear weapons tests at the Punggye-ri site in the mountainous North Hamgyong Province between 2006 and 2017.
The Seoul-based Transitional Justice Working Group on Tuesday (February 21, 2023) called on South Korea to offer radiation exposure tests to hundreds of North Korean escapees who had lived near the country's nuclear test site.
The advocacy group said South Korean records show nearly 900 people from the region around the Punggye-ri site have escaped to South Korea since the North's first nuclear test.
The group said that radioactive materials could have spread by water within 40 kilometres (24.8 miles) of the facility. It said more than a million people in the area depend on groundwater and wells since piped water is scarce beyond the capital, Pyongyang.
"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 neighbouring countries," said Hubert Young-hwan Lee, the group's chief and a co-author.
- Mapping the Risk and Effect of Radioactive Contamination of Groundwater Sources from the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site in North Korea (Transitional Justice Working Group)
- Groundwater carries radiation risk for North Korean cities near nuke test site - rights group (Reuters)
- Group urges radiation tests for 900 North Korean escapees (Associated Press)
- Yield Estimates for the Six North Korean Nuclear Tests (American Geophysical Union)