North Korea Defector Recounts Chemical Weapons Testing on Disabled Children

English Al Jazeera / Asia News reported from Seoul that a North Korean defector, a former North Korean special forces officer, disclosed that the communist regime uses mentally and physically handicapped children to test biological and chemical weapons. Im Chun-young, a former Army captain, escaped to South Korea with a handful of his special forces men. Im stated, "If you are born mentally or physically deficient, the government says your best contribution to society... is as a guinea pig for biological and chemical weapons testing."

Im recounts how one of his army subordinates was stationed at one of the 20 North Korean chemical factories. The soldier told Im he witnessed people forced into a glass chamber and poisonous gas injected in. Kim Sang-hun, a retired UN official who has spent years investigating North Korea's chemical weapons program, supports the story told by Im. Kim has interviewed hundreds of defectors who gave firsthand accounts of the human trials.

If North Korea uses chemical weapons on their own citizens, surely they would have no apprehensions about using them on other nations or selling them to the highest bidder. It would come as no surprise if these allegations turn out to be true. North Korea is a nation that starves its own citizens to pay for a huge military and nuclear weapons. A story in the Telegraph earlier this year detailed how satellite pictures revealed the luxury lifestyle of Kim Jong-Il and his inner circle. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens must subsist on foreign aid and handouts.

The U.S. and the rest of the word are not left with many attractive options to deal with North Korea. The trump card of nuclear or chemical weapons held by the regime is a strong one. Although sanctions against the country have some effect, they seem to mostly starve the masses while the government lives it up. Perhaps, the best course of action would be to encourage China to place some demands on North Korea.

China has a vested interest in the stability of North Korea. Conflict on the Korean peninsula or a regime change could produce a deluge of refugees into China. Although China has not approved of a nuclear North Korean regime, it has not taken any proactive approaches to force their hand. Since China is the largest supplier of fuel and food aid to North Korea, it should make the disarming of nuclear and chemical weapons a prerequisite to continued fuel and food support. Although a nuclear and chemically armed North Korea threatens the U.S. and the world, China has many national interests at stake as well. China has the most leverage with North Korea and needs to immediately act to stop the potential nuclear and chemical threat.

Sources:

English Al Jazeera / Asia News, Seoul "N Korea 'tests weapons on children'" Steve Chao, Seoul

Telegraph UK "Leaders live in luxury while North Koreans starve to pay for nuclear bomb" David Blaire, Singapoore