North Korea murders disabled children, defectors say

From International Business Times:

Free North Korea Radio, run by North Korean defectors, reported May 10 on the murderous acts toward disabled children by the country's own government.

Disabled children who are born in the city of Pyongyang are taken into government run hospitals and are suffocated to death by smothering wet towel over their face.

According to North Korean policy, there cannot be any citizen with disability in the city of Pyongyang. If one is born with defects, it must be taken care of immediately. In many cases, it means death to that individual.

For some time now, the policy comes directly from leader Kim Jong Il (pictured) authorizing the North Korean government to obtain babies with disability and dispose of them through suffocation.

One North Korean source confirmed a story about one sailor who had to give up his grandson 8 years ago because of the gruesome policy. He received a threat from the city after his newborn grandson was born disabled.

The grandfather sailor spoke about the threats given by officials. "Give up your grandson, or you don't get to live in Pyongyang. We will give you a week to decide," recalled the sailor. "I was afraid that if I didn't decide, I would be persecuted as a traitor who disobeyed Kim Jong Il, and then be excommunicated to a wasteland. I had no choice - I had to give up my grandson."

He was told that the government would take a good care of the child, but later discovered that his child was taken to a hospital and killed by suffocating him with a wet towel on his face.

"I never thought they'd go this far to keep Pyongyang clean of disabled people," said the sailor. He expressed his anger for his country and Kim Jong Il that forced him to give up his newborn grandson.

He continued, "although we turned over our grandson as the government asked us to, we were still marked as a genetically defective family that gives births to disabled babies. We had everything North Korean society wanted from us - foundation, education. We were still eventually excommunicated. They test you on how to answer to foreigners' questions if you're trading overseas. One of the things they teach you is that Pyongyang has no disabled people at all."

The breaking story shed light on the murderous practices performed by the government. It is unknown how long the policy has been in place, but the issue is real and is on-going.

Free North Korea Radio is an award winning Korean based non-profit organization which broadcasts from Seoul. The station was founded by a former North Korean soldier, defected from his country. They are funded by South Korea and the United States.