Malnutrition reducing N. Korea's military pool: report

SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Yonhap) -- Chronic food shortages will considerably reduce North
Korea's pool of military recruits in the coming years, with nearly a quarter of
young adults unfit for service due to malnutrition-related mental disabilities, a
U.S. intelligence report said.

The famine of the 1990s has caused severe cognitive deficiencies among young
North Koreans, said the report by the National Intelligence Council that used
studies from several U.S. intelligence agencies.
The rate of disqualification will peak in the 2009-2013 period, during which an
estimated 17-29 percent of potential North Korean recruits born during the 1990s
famine will reach military age, it said.
"Poor health is weakening military readiness because capable new recruits are in
short supply. Loyalty may also erode over time," the report said.
North Korea boasts a 1.1-million-strong military under leader Kim Jong-il's
"songun" or "military-first" policy, which prioritizes the military's combat
ability and its welfare over any other issue.
But its size and morale seem to be thinning. Two-thirds of young adults are now
considered malnourished or anemic, the report said, and nationwide malnutrition
has compelled Pyongyang to lower minimum height and weight requirements for
military service.
Chronic malnutrition occurring before age two can lower IQ by approximately 5-15
points, it said.
The report noted the communist country's once efficient health care system broke
down amid the famine, but it is "extremely difficult to track" prevalent
outbreaks such as tuberculosis, scarlet fever and measles in the country because
of its secretiveness.
Malnutrition-related cognitive disabilities among North Korean youth will bog
down future economic growth in the North regardless of whether it unifies with
South Korea or opens to outside assistance, it said.
"If reunification occurs, South Korea will face the costs not only of
incorporating an economic void, but also those of a huge healthcare burden," it
warned, suggesting that the international community help enhance North Korea's
medical condition as a means of "diplomacy through the back door."
The U.S. has provided medical assistance worth US$4 million to about 10 North
Korean hospitals through non-governmental organizations.
The Seoul government suspended its customary humanitarian aid to Pyongyang since
conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office a year ago, toughening its
stance on the North's nuclear weapons program.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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