North Korea nuclear testing ‘deforms babies and kills trees’ as locals fear radiation leak

A group of defectors told of the horrifying effects of Kim Jong-un’s underground nuclear tests with trees dying and babies born nearby suffering from defects as residents fear radiation leaks are to blame.

One defector said: “I heard from a relative in Kilju that deformed babies were born in hospitals there.”

Those living under Kim’s oppressive regime in Kilju county where nuclear weapons are detonated in a secret underground testing location fear they have been contaminated.

Wells have run dry and 80 per cent of trees that are planted die in the region, 21 defectors from the county have revealed while speaking to a South Korean newspaper.

Another defector said: “I spoke on the phone with family members I left behind there and they told me that all of the underground wells dried up after the sixth nuclear test.”

The war obsessed regime unleashed its sixth and most devastating test at its site under a mountain in the Kilju region in September triggering an earthquake with a 250 kiloton blast.

Residents are not warned before tests like the one which set quake monitors off with a 6.3 magnitude shake.

One defector who lived through the 2006 and 2009 tests said: “Only family members of soldiers were evacuated to underground shafts. Ordinary people were completely unaware of the tests.”

Following a visit to the area after the September blast one source revealed everyone from Kilju is blocked from visiting hospitals in the country’s capital.

As the regime seeks to keep a lid on the fallout from the tests they have taken the extraordinary measures of sending residents trying to board trains with soil, water or plant samples to prison camps.

The revelations follow news that a tunnel collapsed at the underground test site killing 200 workers.

Although the loss of life led to hopes that Kim’s nuclear advance would be slowed by the loss of valuable personnel and damage to the site it also led to fresh fears of contamination.

Chinese geologists warned their North Korean counterparts that one more test could cause the top of the mountain to collapse leaking deadly radiation into the atmosphere.

It is now feared that Pyongyang will follow through on threats of an atmospheric nuclear test over the Pacific ocean as a response to Donald Trump arriving in South Korea in the latest stop on his Asia tour.

Getting his trip underway in Japan and reaffirming his alliance with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Trump fired a warning at despot Kim.

Speaking in Tokyo the US President said: “We are working to counter the dangerous aggressions of the regime in North Korean.

“The regime continues development of its unlawful weapons programs, including its illegal nuclear tests and outrageous launches of ballistic missiles directly over Japanese territory, are a threat to the civilised world and international peace and stability.

“We will not stand for that: the era of strategic patience is over.”

The President’s statements did not go unnoticed in Pyongyang as they issued their own fiery response.

North Korea promised a “merciless retaliation” and branded Trump’s remarks “foolish”.