While radiation fears are spreading to the entire world following the recent explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, concerns are rising about the safety of nuclear facilities in North Korea. Currently, North Korea possesses four nuclear facilities, including a 5-megawatt experimental reactor built in 1986, the IRT-2000 reactor in Yongbyon built by the Soviet Union in 1965, a plutonium reprocessing facility and a nuclear fuel processing plant. The 5-megawatt reactor is not in operation now, and the IRT-2000 reactor is purely for research. That is why some experts downplay the possibility of explosion at these facilities like the one in Japan. What worries the international community is a 100-megawatt experimental light water reactor under construction in Yongybyon, as pointed out by former deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Olli Heinonen. The problem is that North Korea is not believed to possess the technology necessary for building a light water reactor on its own. Here’s Professor Mun Ju-hyeon of the Department of Nuclear Energy Engineering at Dongguk University to explain.

Let me explain experimental light water reactors. Pressurized water reactors, which are installed in many parts of the world, should maintain a high temperature and high pressure to prevent water from boiling within the reactor. For that reason, containers and other equipment used for pressurized water reactors should be designed and produced with the highest-quality materials that can withstand high temperatures and pressure. But it is questionable whether North Korea is actually capable of designing and installing the massive equipment and facilities. It is also doubtful whether North Korea conducted a full, preliminary survey of the site where the nuclear reactor will be built. In South Korea and the U.S., relevant laws mandate an inspection of a potential site with a radius of up to 320 kilometers to determine potential natural disasters within the area before designing a nuclear reactor there. I doubt if North Korea conducted such a survey.

Experts are also concerned that North Korea has never operated light water reactors before. Even Japan, with its many years of experience running nuclear reactors, has been criticized for its handling of the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. If a similar accident occurs in the isolated North, the situation would be quite serious. Siegfried Hecker, a Stanford University professor who visited North Korea last November and disclosed to the world that North Korea was running a uranium enrichment facility, also warns about safety problems with the country’s light water reactor project. He said North Korea has been handling nuclear programs for the past 24 years and no serious accidents have occurred so far, which was positive. But he expressed concern that a possible radioactive leakage from the operating reactor could affect neighboring countries, unless there is international cooperation to ensure the safety of the nuclear facilities.

It is well known that radioactive contamination is serious in North Korea’s nuclear facilities due to the poor management of the 5-megawatt nuclear reactor and the reprocessing facility. Dr. Hecker and his team visited the nuclear facilities in Yongybyon and witnessed an experimental light water reactor under construction and a uranium enrichment facility there. Although they have yet to enter full operation, design and construction of the facilities are considered rather defective. So, safety concerns may surface when they begin operation. According to Dr. Hecker, the design team of the North Korean light water reactor consists of young engineers in their 40s, who have no experience in designing such reactors. There’s some question as to whether the inexperienced engineers designed such a complex system correctly.

Following the nuclear crisis at the crippled Japanese nuclear power plant, a tense atmosphere can be felt in North Korea, too. North Korean TV reported that traces of radioactive iodine and cesium were detected in Pyongyang, Wonsan and Cheongjin, while rerunning a science program about ways to avoid potential damage of radioactive substances on the human body several times. However, the North Korean media has never mentioned its own nuclear facilities within the nation. Experts say the Fukushima nuclear accident is unlikely to have any impact on North Korea’s nuclear development. On the contrary, North Korea, which has often resorted to brinkmanship tactics, could explicitly weaponize its nuclear programs to realize a third-generation power succession and to resolve its food shortages around 2012, the year that North Korea has pegged for its goal of building a strong and prosperous country.

If history is any guide, it is always possible that North Korea may divert its light water nuclear reactor or uranium enrichment facility into a nuclear weapons program, depending on developments in international diplomacy. As Dr. Hecker said, North Korea is capable of producing 40 kilograms of highly enriched uranium annually once its uranium enrichment facility begins full operation. If the cited amount of uranium is used for designing high-powered detonating devices, the North can manufacture two nuclear bombs. Unlike plutonium, which is now hard to produce due to the suspension of the 5-megawatt nuclear reactor, it is possible for North Korea to produce a certain amount of highly enriched uranium each year. So, there is no limit on the supply of such material. Also, it is easier to manufacture a nuclear bomb with uranium than with plutonium, and potential demand for uranium from terrorist groups is high. If North Korea seeks to earn foreign money or if it loses control of nuclear materials as a result of an emergency, those materials could be transferred overseas. This is what worries the U.S. and the international community the most.

The South Korean government, meanwhile, has raised the issue of nuclear safety in North Korea in the international community. Vice Foreign Minister Min Dong-seok expressed concerns about the safety of North Korea’s nuclear facilities in a keynote speech at a summit on nuclear energy in Ukraine on April 19. Prior to that, Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan visited China to ask for cooperation on the issue. Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik recently met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in China and the two agreed to make joint efforts to ensure nuclear safety. They also promised to discuss this issue at the trilateral summit involving South Korea, China and Japan in May. Regarding the safety of North Korean nuclear facilities, Professor Mun stresses the need for devising countermeasures inside and outside the nation while also enlisting global cooperation.

At present, North Korea won’t likely put a halt to its nuclear development. As the second best alternative, it is necessary to induce North Korea to follow international safety standards when designing and constructing nuclear reactors. South Korea, for its part, needs to expand radioactivity inspection systems near the border areas so it can detect a possible nuclear accident in North Korea quickly and take necessary measures to protect the South Korean people. Apparently, North Korea cannot cope with a nuclear accident independently. So, the U.S., China and Japan need to build an international emergency system to deal with any accidents in North Korea. It’s also necessary to create a radioactivity detection system to prevent radioactive substances from spreading across the North Korea-China border or the North Korea-Russia border. It is almost impossible for South Korea to carry out these tasks alone, and global cooperation is essential. This issue could be discussed at the prospective six-party nuclear talks or next year’s Nuclear Security Summit.

Amid the ongoing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, nuclear safety has emerged as a major concern in Northeast Asia and in other parts of the world. Safe and proper management of North Korea’s nuclear facilities, including those in Yongbyon, is as important as the nation’s eventual nuclear dismantlement. This is a new challenge and crucial security task that South Korea must address.


[Interview] Defector-Turned-Scholar Obtains Doctorate in N. Korean Studies In North Korea, I dreamed of becoming a researcher dedicated to my studies. But there was no way to realize my dream. I distinguished myself as a competent student when I was in college, but I couldn’t concentrate on my studies because my family was purged. I hoped to defect to South Korea to fully enjoy my life as an intellectual. Now, I’m very happy to obtain a doctorate here in South Korea. I’m glad to live up to the expectations of my wife and children. My heart is filled with deep emotion, as my long-cherished dream has finally come true and my second life has begun.

This is former North Korean defector Kim Byeong-wook who recently earned a doctorate in North Korean studies at Dongguk University. Some North Korean defectors have obtained their doctorate while resettling in South Korea, but Kim is the first newcomer to achieve this feat in the field of North Korean studies. Kim majored in economics in North Korea but he came to show interest in North Korean studies here in South Korea for a few particular reasons.

It wasn’t that I became interested in North Korean studies from the beginning. I was just wondering which subject I would study to stay competitive. I was surprised to see South Korean researchers inferring the North Korean situation from only a few testimonies of North Korean defectors. Researchers here say that defectors can play a part in unification and that it’s important to assist them in their resettlement. But I had the impression that the defectors are simply treated as an object of study, as the target of interviews. Disappointed with this reality, I decided to study North Korea myself. Those who have been sick before can understand the pain of patients. Likewise, if North Korean defectors-turned-scholars join hands with South Korean researchers, they could contribute to raising the quality of North Korean studies here.

But it wasn’t easy to push ahead with North Korean studies here in South Korea where the academic organization and culture are totally different from North Korea. Kim knows North Korea better than anyone else, but it was hard to perceive his homeland from a dispassionate objective angle. He had to overcome such limitations as a defector. Also, it was challenging for him to learn the strict and refined South Korean style of writing dissertations. After three years of arduous work—referring to various dictionaries and correcting sentences repeatedly—he finally became the first researcher to complete a doctorate thesis about regional defense systems in North Korea.

My dissertation is about the civil defense system in rural areas of North Korea. Regional defense is usually assumed by the regular army but North Korea organizes regional defense units with civilians. During the Cold War era before the 1990s, North Korea formed a three-way military relationship involving the Soviet Union, China and North Korea in order to check another three-way military alliance between South Korea, Japan and the U.S. With the collapse of the socialist bloc in the 1990s, however, the North Korean military had to take greater responsibility for its defense. To ease the increasing burden, North Korea handed over regional defense to civilians. My dissertation focuses on North Korea’s regional defense system centered on civilian forces.

Kim has recently been entrusted with a new mission to research the consumption patterns of North Korean defectors and potential ways for reasonable consumption, sponsored by the North Korean Refugees Foundation. The first thing he did was form a research team consisting of North Korean defectors. He believes that it would be meaningful if those who understand their fellow defectors conduct research from the standpoint of defectors. Kim says he will continue to study North Korea alongside the North Korean newcomers, rather than exploiting them, in hopes of contributing to research in preparation for post-unification as well.

As a scholar devoted to North Korean studies, I think it’s time to start research on the post-unification era. It’s important to learn the current situation in North Korea, but I’m keenly interested in potential problems that may arise from regional development in North Korea. The problems also include those related to personnel and economic developments. Research like this requires not only a proper understanding of current North Korean society but a future-oriented insight as well. As far as North Korea-related research is concerned, I do believe North Korean defectors can play a certain part and accomplish a great deal.

Kim has become the first North Korean defector to earn a doctorate in North Korean studies, and he is now hoping to become the first North Korean expert in an era of unification. Today, as always, the researcher is studying in his office, looking forward to seeing a unified Korea.