Posted on 05/07/2004 10:38:54 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
/begin my translation
Cooking Books to Fool U.N. Inspectors(Diverting Medical Aids)
[Memories of the North] A tale by a former pharmacist from Ha-myun mines, Sae-byul county, N. Hamgyong province
Although I was born and brought up in Pyongyang, I had lived for years in Sae-byul county(formerly Kyong-won), N. Hamgyong province, the northernmost corner of the Korean Peninsula, before I escape N. Korea. Nowadays, cheap goods from more open and reformed China are flooding the area, which boosted the living condition there. However, up until mid-90's, this was the place of exile where people with bad (ideological) background were banished.
My mother joined the Volunteers for N. Korean Army during the Korean War, and later became a medical doctor. I followed her wish, graduating Ham-heung Pharmaceutical College and becoming a pharmacist. Branded as "Southerners"(translator's note: from a family of S. Korean origin), we were kicked out to faraway Sae-byul country from Pyongyang, suffering from severe discrimination. I was a pharmacist at the hospital of Ha-myun mines, Sae-byul county.
There were many S. Korean POW's(from the Korean War) at Ha-myun mines. Chang Moon-han, a S. Korean POW who escaped in 1998, and Baek Jong-kyu, who returned as ashes in the hands of his daughter a few days ago, are all from Ha-myun mines. Since it is the place of banished people, it was well outside the proper care and consideration of the authorities. The living condition there was atrocious compared with other areas.
I regretted being a pharmacist after seeing so many patients dying because we did not even have basic antibiotics. Especially, I had to helplessly watch many people perish after getting sick from eating toxic (wild) grass during food shortage, whose bodies were badly swollen from the effect of toxins. Doctors themselves could not give their helping hands due to lack of medicine. The suffering of general public was patently obvious.
Around 1997 when the famine was heading for its peak, medical aids from the international community including U.N. started and we saw a ray of hope. In a nearby On-sung county in 1998, medicines of mysterious origin started to show up at the market. Patients brought these medicines themselves after a great trouble to themselves, and ask Doctors to treat them with the medicines. Medicines donated by U.N. and the international community were diverted and sold on the market.
For N. Korean doctors who were used to Russian and E. European medicines, Western medicines brought to them by patients were difficult to comprehend and explain. Not only medicines and medical equipments were in shortage but also doctors could not understand how those medicines work. The confidence on doctors plummeted. A bizarre situation emerged where it was the patients who explained doctors that, the medicine the patients got from the market, Ammoxcilinum is good for cold and pneumonia, and Cotrimoxasolum, for bacterial infections.
In August of 1998, the party secretary of my hospital urgently called up all personnels and gave a special instruction. He said U.N. inspectors would come in a week. "Why the hell are U.N. inspectors coming? Do we have any ties to U.N.?", we wondered. Still we followed the instruction and made frantic efforts to do things like cleaning up our hospital.
A couple of days before the arrival of inspectors, the order came down from the higher-up to send up two empty accounting books. A day before their arrival, the books came back. In them were the entries of items which we had never seen before. Cooking oil, canned beefs, various medical equipments, and food were listed, each accompanied with its arrival dates and the description of how it was used, in a rather convincing manner.
Among three inspectors, there was a blond Caucasian woman. They looked into the books, nodded a few times, whatever they were examining, and went back. On that evening, I went to a nursery to pick up my child, only to have another surprise. Children had white rice and pollack soup. For children subsisting on gruels made from wild grass and corn powder, it was truly a rare treat. I was in tears.
However, upon looking around the place, I had a cynical laugh. There were many empty cans of foreign beef and seafood products displayed around the nursery. Were U.N. inspectors so powerful? It was really hilarious to see the work of stage management with empty cans we had never seen before. Whatever the reason was, thanks to them, our children as well as other kids in this area were able to eat rice, which was not supposed to happen. That alone made me feel grateful.
After the inspection, our hospital was supplied with medicines brought by U.N.. Doctors and pharmacists were given education about the technical details of Western medicines. Many medicine were provided, including Nebendazol(?), which gets rid of parasites, Mortin for high fever, anti-diarrhea drug, pain-killers, antibiotics, and a drug for anemia of pregnant women. In N. Korea, Santonin was mostly used for combatting parasites, which was in liquid form, but has a serious side-effect of damaging the patient's liver. We were quite unhappy about it. Nebendazol introduced by U.N. was so popular that the high party officials and hospital officials took most of them, which left nothing for children.
After such an education, we could gain more confidence in handling medicines patients brought from the market, and giving out prescriptions on such medicines. We did not know where they were diverted, but so many medicines not even available at my hospital poured into the market.
Between 1985 and 1990 during which the shortage of basic necessities worsened, "the powerful ones" diverted the necessities at state price and sold them into the black market, netting ten fold profit for themselves. Since there were no more such items to divert, it seemed that they pursued the new avenue and diverted the items donated by the international community.
A while later, the 100% cooking of books was lessened to some extent, probably because of a rumor that U.N. inspectors would come more frequently, That is, 40~50% of the entries in the books were fictional while the remaining entries were indeed provided.
Since any slight protest could terminate the supply, we did not bother to know where the half of the fictional entries went. We just record the bogus entries and got the rest for our use. We were just grateful that it was much better than giving us nothing at all.
I heard the story later that each hospital has an warehouse labeled 'No.4 Materials' which stores wartime supplies. According to this story, due to bad economy, the stocks in those warehouses were not periodically replaced in time, which made the stock useless. A lot of foreign medical aids which came in early 1997 replaced these old 'No.4 Materials.'
After medicines started to come in from U.N., my hospital set up a new warehouse for U.N. medicines. So there were three warehouses for 'Hospital Medicine', 'No.4 Materials', and 'U.N. Medicines.' No.4 Warehouse was always full. However, nobody could touch it even in a real medical emergency. Doing so would get you in a trouble you cannot imagine.
After the second visit by U.N. inspectors, things had changed markedly. They must have sensed that the aids were being diverted. They were more strict with their inspection. Nevertheless, it would be impossible to uncover the charade played in a perfect set. We were just happy that, with their work, children and patients could have whatever small improved treatment they now have.
Lately, there was a large explosion in Ryongchon, killing many precious lives including children. All over S. Korea, the drive to send relief aids to help Ryongchon residents is raging like a wild fire. It was truly a moving sight to watch. I also hope that they would do their best to make sure that these aid materials would reach people who really need them.
N. Korean medical system completely collapsed. For a long time, they have been resorting to primitive means to treat patients, lacking basic medicines and equipments. Since they have almost nothing, any aids of ordinary size is a drop in a bucket. We should not just giving it to them. Unless we monitor to ensure the proper distribution, it would only end up enriching "the powerful ones."
Seeing the ruins of Ryongchon and malnourished people made me cry for such horrible conditions. The entire generation of kids born after 1990 are about to be in danger of being ruined for life due to severe malnutrition. Their malnutrition is near catastrophic proportion. Pragmatic child-saving medicines such as minerals and vitamin pills and dairy products should be provided after thinking hard about what are really need for fellow N. Koreans.
For the sake of the future Korea, I hope we can at least save children.
(Lee Hey-kyung, female, age 39, a former pharmacist at Ha-myun mines, Sae-byul country, N. Hamgyong province)
/end my translation
Well, I don't know. It may not amount to the level which satisfies U.N. fat cats.:)
You were in Korea a long time ago, I suppose. Problems around military base changed its charactor. These days those place are filled with girls from former countries of the former Soviet Union.
You are quite welcome.:)
I am in full agreement.
Thanks for your support, as always.:)
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