North Korean defector possess 'enormous parasites'

A North Korean soldier who was shot fleeing across the border had an extremely high level of parasites in his intestines, his doctors say.

*I've never seen anything like this in my 20 years as a physician", South Korean doctor Lee Cook-Jong told journalists, explaining the longest worm removed from the patient's intestines was 27cm (11in) long.

Doctors say the patient is stable - but "an enormous number" of worms in his body are contaminating his wounds and making his situation worse. His condition is thought to give a rare insight into life in North Korea.

However, Prof Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul points out that compared to other countries with a similar per capita income - like Bangladesh for instance or many African countries - the population in North Korea is a lot healthier than one would expect. The country's life expectancy is well above average considering the level of economic poverty, he says.

"North Korea does not have the resources to have a modern medical system," he says. "Its doctors are relatively poorly trained and have to work with primitive equipment." Yet given that there are relatively many doctors, the country does manage to perform rather well in its dire economic situation, he argues.

UCJ, UNILORIN.