Anchor: Traces of radioactive contamination around North Korea’s nuclear facilities, including the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, are said to be at dangerously high levels. This is according to a former North Korean military official who took part in the construction of the North’s nuclear facilities.
Bae Joo-yon has more.
 
Report: A former North Korean military official-turned-defector says the level of radioactive contamination around the Yongbyon nuclear complex is unimaginably high as the facility has been operating for three decades now. 

The defector, who was previously involved in the construction of the North's nuclear facilities, said that the level of radiation around Yongbyon is hundreds of times higher than the standard level. 

He said there is no grass growing around the facility and workers there are suffering from diseases such as liver cancer and cirrhosis. He added that because many women residing near the facility give birth to babies with various disabilities, locals tend to say that people should get married and have babies before being affected by radiation.
 
According to Suh Kune-yull, a nuclear engineering professor at Seoul National University, graphite-moderated reactors must be scrapped once they have undergone operations for 30 years. However, he said in the case of the North, it is continuing to operate the reactors to produce plutonium. He said there is a risk of accidents as serious as the detonation of nuclear bombs inside the Yongbyon facilities, which are located only some 100 kilometers north of Pyongyang.
 
The North’s nuclear ambitions are not only raising tensions on the global stage but they are also becoming a serious threat to the lives of the North Korean people.
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.