The story I am going to tell you is about human rights abuses which occurred at two nuclear facilities in North Korea. One is Pyongsan uranium mine, a resource for the front end fuel cycle in North Korea’s nuclear program, and the other is the radiochemical laboratory reprocessing facility located at Yongbyon, a significant resource for the back end fuel cycle.

In the Pyongsan uranium mine, the workers were placed under miserable and inhumane work conditions comparable to those in the conventional mines where the political prisoners and the ordinary prisoners in the prison camps worked... Moreover, I heard clear statements from the interviewed defector that little consideration was given to work safety... Since the inhalation of uranium ore dust, which consists of radon, is known as a major cause of lung cancer, no anti-dust mask during working hours means that they were directly exposed to occupational diseases.

We interviewed another defector who worked at the Yongbyon radio chemical laboratory... However, the badges were monitored only once every 3 months and the workers were never informed of the results... In addition, according to his testimony, the fertility of women laborers was very low... The interviewee witnessed many workers who suffered from nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and fevers at the workplaces, even a sloughing of skins.

Human factors really matter in ultra hazardous activities like nuclear program. North Korea’s nuclear program is known as having developed with the sacrifice of the North Korean population. However, we should not ignore the sacrifice of workers in North Korea’s nuclear facilities as well. If Six-Party Talks resume, this kind of human rights violations in nuclear facilities must be negotiated.

I. Oral Statement

II. Prepared Written Statement