North Korean Defector Has Anthrax Antibodies in Bloodstream - Report - Sputnik International
Author: Sputnik
Description: A North Korean soldier who defected to South Korea in 2017 was found to have anthrax antibodies in his bloodstream, according to a Tuesday report from Channel A news.
Keywords: vaccination, Anthrax, South Korea, Democratic Republic of North Korea (DPRK)

- Sputnik International
- all editions

Log inRegister Log out
05:09 GMT +327 December 2017

- Home
- World
- Business
- Opinion
- Tech
- Viral
- Radio
- Multimedia
- Cartoons
- Blogs

- Europe
- US
- Russia
- Latin America
- Middle East
- Asia & Pacific
- Africa

- As If
- Brave New World
- By Any Means Necessary
- Context Countdown
- Double Down
- Hard Facts
- Level Talk
- Loud & Clear
- The BradСast
- Trendstorm
- Fault Lines

- Photo
- Video
- Infographics

# North Korean Defector Has Anthrax Antibodies in Bloodstream - Report

© AP Photo/ Victor R. Caivano
Asia & Pacific
23:30 26.12.2017Get short URL
10 173

A North Korean soldier who defected to South Korea in 2017 was found to have anthrax antibodies in his bloodstream, according to a Tuesday report from Channel A news.

© REUTERS/ Stringer
Chinese Military Denies Setting Up Hotline on North Korea With US - Reports
A South Korean intelligence official dropped the revelation. Speaking under the condition of anonymity, he informed local news station Channel A that "anthrax antibodies have been found in the North Korean soldier who defected this year."

It's not known whether the soldier was exposed to or vaccinated against anthrax, and the official did not specify which soldier of the four soldiers who parted ways with Pyongyang this year carried the antibodies. Soldiers defected from North Korea June 12, June 18, November 13 and December 20.

The unidentified soldier developed the immunity to anthrax prior to his defection, the official noted.

The news is causing concern in North Korea's southern neighbor as the bacterial illness can kill an estimated 80 percent of people who are exposed to the bacterium, UPI reported.

According to South Korean Defense Ministry spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo, Seoul has yet to obtain a vaccine for anthrax. It expects to have developed a vaccine for its military "by the end of 2019."

The discovery of the soldier's anthrax immunization follows a recent report from Japan's Asahi newspaper that suggests North Korea has begun to test loading anthrax onto the tip of its intercontinental ballistic missiles, the International Business Times reported.

© AP Photo/ Wong Maye-E
North Korea Advises US to Give Up 'Pipe Dream' of Pyongyang Abandoning Nukes
Citing an intelligence source, the Asahi publication alleged that North Korea was "conducting heat and pressure resistance tests to see whether anthrax germs can survive at temperatures of 7,000 degrees or higher, the level an ICBM encounters when it re-enters Earth's atmosphere."

Though the Democratic People's Republic of Korea addressed the issue and fully denied the notion, US President Donald Trump responded to the allegations in his first National Security Strategy report on December 19 by stating that Kim Jong-un's regime is "pursuing chemical and biological weapons which could also be delivered by missile."

For a second time, the North addressed the topic, but this time it was through the Institute of American Studies, an affiliate of the North Korean Foreign Ministry, which told the Korea Central News Agency that Pyongyang, in line with the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), "maintains its consistent stand to oppose development, manufacture, stockpiling and possession of biological weapons."

"The more the US clings to the anti-DPRK stifling move, the more hardened the determination of our entire military personnel and people to take revenge will be," the statement added.

The BWC, which prevents the "development, production and stockpiling of an entire category of weapons of mass destruction," was signed by North Korea in 1987. Although it fails to ban the usage of biological and toxin weapons, it does reiterate the 1925 Geneva Protocols which prohibit their use.

...
Reddit
Google+
Blogger
Pinterest
StumbleUpon
Telegram
WhatsApp
17 3

### Related:

  China Halts Oil Products' Exports to North Korea Amid New UN Sanctions - Report

  Kremlin: Russia Ready to Be Mediator Between US, North Korea if Parties Want it

  North Korea Has Created New Satellite - Reports

  Paris, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Jerusalem: Donald Trump’s Year That Was

  'Act of War': North Korea Rejects New UN Security Council Sanctions

Tags:
vaccination, Anthrax, South Korea, Democratic Republic of North Korea (DPRK)
Track Do not track Community standardsDiscussion
Comment via FacebookComment via Sputnik

- Сomment
- Thank you! Your comment will be reviewed by the moderator for compliance with the Rules
  Add more

### All comments

Show more comments (20)

Show new comments (0)

- Сomment

- Reply

  ##### in reply to(Show commentHide comment)

  | | Edit | Delete
Thank you! Your comment will be reviewed by the moderator for compliance with the Rules
E-mail:
Screen Name:
Password:
Confirm password:
Please type the code
Log in Privacy Policy
By clicking 'Register', you confirm that you agree to our Privacy Policy and give your consent to the processing of personal data in accordance with the Privacy Policy
* All fields are required
Please confirm your e-mail to continue. Confirmation instructions have been sent to
Ok
Enter e-mail
Please type the code
Log in Privacy Policy
Success! Instructions to recover your password have been sent to
Ok
Do you have a Sputniknews.com account?
YesNo

### Hello, !

E-mail:
Password:
Remember me
I do not have a Sputniknews.com account
RegisterForgot your password? Privacy Policy
Ok

### Hello, !

E-mail:
Screen Name:
Log in
I have a Sputniknews.com account
Ok
Are you sure you want to delete your Sputniknews.com account?
YesNo
Your account has been deleted! You can restore your account within 30 days by following the link sent to the e-mail address you entered during registration.
Close

The fact of registration and authorization of users on Sputnik websites via users’ account or accounts on social networks indicates acceptance of these rules.

Users are obliged abide by national and international laws. Users are obliged to speak respectfully to the other participants in the discussion, readers and individuals referenced in the posts.

The websites’ administration has the right to delete comments made in languages ​​other than the language of the majority of the websites’ content.

In all language versions of the sputniknews.com websites any comments posted can be edited.

A user comment will be deleted if it:

- does not correspond with the subject of the post;
- promotes hatred and discrimination on racial, ethnic, sexual, religious or social basis or violates the rights of minorities;
- violates the rights of minors, causing them harm in any form, including moral damage;
- contains ideas of extremist nature or calls for other illegal activities;
- contains insults, threats to other users, individuals or specific organizations, denigrates dignity or undermines business reputations;
- contains insults or messages expressing disrespect to Sputnik;
- violates privacy, distributes personal data of third parties without their consent or violates privacy of correspondence;
- describes or references scenes of violence, cruelty to animals;
- contains information about methods of suicide, incites to commit suicide;
- pursues commercial objectives, contains improper advertising, unlawful political advertisement or links to other online resources containing such information;
- promotes products or services of third parties without proper authorization;
- contains offensive language or profanity and its derivatives, as well as hints of the use of lexical items falling within this definition;
- contains spam, advertises spamming, mass mailing services and promotes get-rich-quick schemes;
- promotes the use of narcotic / psychotropic substances, provides information on their production and use;
- contains links to viruses and malicious software;
- is part of an organized action involving large volumes of comments with identical or similar content ("flash mob");
- “floods” the discussion thread with a large number of incoherent or irrelevant messages;
- violates etiquette, exhibiting any form of aggressive, humiliating or abusive behavior ("trolling");
- doesn’t follow standard rules of the English language, for example, is typed fully or mostly in capital letters or isn’t broken down into sentences.

The administration has the right to block a user’s access to the page or delete a user’s account without notice if the user is in violation of these rules or if behavior indicating said violation is detected.

Users can initiate the recovery of their account / unlock access by contacting the moderators at moderator@sputniknews.com

The letter must contain:

- Subject - the restoration of account / unlock access
- User ID
- An explanation of the actions which were in violation of the rules above and resulted in the lock.

If the moderators deem it possible to restore the account / unlock access, it will be done.

In the case of repeated violations of the rules above resulting in a second block of a user’s account, access cannot be restored.

To contact the team of moderators, write to moderator@sputniknews.com

E-mail:
Password:
Remember me
RegisterForgot your password? Privacy Policy
Other ways to sign in:
Ok