Children are being born without anuses, toes, or hands after falling victim to mystery 'ghost disease' near new King Jong-un's nuke testing site, North Korean deserter claims

North Korean children are being calved without anuses, toes, aliases hands, arsenic a mysterious unwellness dubbed 'ghost disease' spreads adjacent Kim Jong-un's nuke testing site, according to a North Korean defector.

Youngran Lee, who lived adjacent nan Punggye-ri trial tract earlier she escaped successful 2015. said successful a chilling first-hand grounds that a horrifying illness has swept nan region, sidesplitting and deforming babe children pinch doctors powerless to diagnose aliases dainty it.

Mrs Lee said: 'In Kilju County, civilians are suffering from diseases, not knowing why. In hospitals, doctors cannot diagnose it, and nan patients are dying slow pinch lingering illness.

'It is not excessively drastic to opportunity that having a kid without an anus, toes, aliases hands was normalised successful Kilju. There are patients pinch various cancers successful each different house.'

The defector shared uncommon penetration into life wrong nan 'Hermit Kingdom', expressing concerns astir surviving truthful adjacent to a atomic testing zone. She described her location shaking, furnishings falling from nan walls arsenic nan subject tested its weapons. 

Mrs Lee counts her only boy among nan victims of shade disease.

She said that successful North Korea, medicine supplied by nan UN is hoarded by elder authorities officials, and contempt nan committedness of free healthcare, 'the shelves are quiet successful pharmacies'.

So erstwhile her boy developed a mild fever successful October 2014, aged 27, she turned to achromatic marketplace medication, smuggled successful from China.

But it grounded to thief and she took him to hospital.

She said: 'A tuberculosis expert told america that my boy had holes successful his lungs, measuring arsenic large arsenic 1.5cm and 2.7cm.

'He besides said he did not cognize why an expanding number of young adults were coming to nan hospital.

'I could not understand why this had happened to my son, and felt truthful helpless.

'Furthermore, he had 8 adjacent friends, and they were each diagnosed pinch tuberculosis 1 by 1 from 2012, and died wrong 4 years.'

Mrs Lee spent her life-savings buying medications for her son, earlier fleeing to China successful February 2015, hoping to find activity to nonstop much money home.

By August of that year, she'd arrived successful South Korea, wherever she underwent mandatory training to hole her for life successful a free society.

She said: 'As soon arsenic I was released, I contacted my boy to show him to spell to Pyongyang Hospital.

'But nan adjacent day, he called backmost and said location had been charismatic instructions to extremity Kilju County tuberculosis and hepatitis patients from entering Pyongyang.

'The only logic fixed was that this was for Kim Jong-un's safety, and location was nary due explanation.'

She continued: 'For 2 years, I transferred money to my boy done brokers, believing that he was getting capable care.

'However, successful May 2018, I mislaid my boy, my pridefulness and joy.

'My boy died without ever reaching nan infirmary to person a due diagnosis.'

Mrs Lee said she had lived adjacent a atomic testing tract earlier its demolition successful 2018.

She said: 'On nan time nan 3rd atomic trial took place, a wall timepiece fell, and ray bulbs shook. I thought it was an earthquake and ran outside.

'All my neighbours were retired arsenic well. Shortly aft that, astatine midday, nan main broadcasting strategy announced that nan 3rd atomic trial was successful.

'Then we realised that nan military-controlled area successful Punggye-ri was a trial site.'

Locals danced successful nan thoroughfare successful celebration, but they would beryllium among nan first victim's of North Korea's atomic programme.

Experts judge that radiation is nan existent origin of what's been called shade disease.

Nuclear intelligence Joohyun Moon of Dankook University, successful South Korea, described really radiation from nan underground blasts could scope section communities.

He said: 'As daze waves travel, they break nan layers of nan world aliases create cracks.

'After a while, a substance of melted stone and radioactive worldly will cool down and solidify.

'Radioactive materials contained successful this compound tin infiltrate into gaps aliases cracks caused by nan detonation and travel to nan surface, ungraded aliases groundwater.

'If it rains adjacent nan trial site, nan rainfall tin transportation these radioactive materials into nan groundwater.

'Groundwater is connected to rivers, streams and aboveground water, releasing these radioactive materials into nan extracurricular world.

'As it is portion of earthy circulation, it is very difficult to intervene and forestall it.'

Dr Moon said location were a number of ways for radioactive materials to past infiltrate nan nutrient chain.

People could portion nan irradiated h2o aliases eat seafood from it, eat crops grown pinch nan water, aliases devour beverage aliases nutrient from cattle fed by contaminated grass.

The atomic trial tract sits connected nan banks of nan Changhung River, which itself feeds nan Namdae River – nan main h2o root for Kilju County.

'Every family successful Kilju gets their h2o proviso from there,' said Mrs Lee.

Dr Moon estimated complete a cardinal residents wrong a 40km radius of nan trial tract could beryllium affected.

He said: 'It is safe to opportunity that nan residents adjacent nan trial tract will beryllium nether nan power of radiation for astir 200 years.

'The clip play will summation if much atomic tests are conducted successful nan aforesaid location.'

He added: 'If nan business continues without capable protection, these group will person a higher chance of having cancer, leukaemia, chromosomal aberration etc. than group successful different regions.'

Youngran still lives pinch nan harm successful South Korea.

She was 1 of 5 North Korean defectors from Kilju County tested for radiation successful nan South successful 2016.

She said: 'The trial showed that nan vulnerability level was very high, and nan achromatic humor cells were very low.

'One of nan group had an unbearable headache – they could not moreover assistance their head, but successful each trial carried retired successful A&E, nary origin was found.'

Her ain business is nary better.

She continued: 'I consciousness aches everyplace and cannot locomotion very good owed to symptom successful my legs, and I was hospitalised six times successful a twelvemonth because of headaches.

'The infirmary could not find immoderate logic down it, but I cannot moreover unfastened my eyes erstwhile I person a headache; I consciousness restless and suicidal.

'I cognize galore group from Kilju who are experiencing nan aforesaid symptoms arsenic me.'