The North Korean soldier, who not yet been named, drove to the heavily fortified border and then risked his life to cross the demilitarised zone (DMZ) into South Korea last week.
South Korean surgeons found dozens of parasitic worms while repairing the defector’s intestinal wounds after he was shot escaping from the North.
The worms, some as long as 11 inches, demonstrate the poor hygiene and nutrition in the hermit kingdom.
Dr Lee Cook-jong, a lead surgeon said: “In my 20 years as a surgeon, I have only seen something like this in a medical textbook.
“We have found dozens of fully grown parasitic worms in his damaged intestines.”
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“It was a serious parasitic infection.”
At a news briefing, Dr Lee showed photographs showing dozens of parasites removed from the soldier’s stomach following a series of life-saving operations.
Experts in parasitic worms were not surprised by the findings.
They said that they were in-line with the isolated and impoverished conditions in the North, adding that the parasites may be a sign that the dictator-run state is using human faeces as fertiliser.
The soldier was flown by helicopter to hospital after his escape to South Korea.
Dr Lee Guk-jong said: “We are struggling with treatment as we found a large number of parasites in the soldier’s stomach, invading and eating into wounded areas.
“We have also discovered a parasite never seen in Koreans before. It is making the situation worse and causing tremendous complications.”
It is widely believed the solider contracted the disease before he attempted to escape, according to the area Biomedical Review.
Choi Min-Ho, a professor at Seoul National University College of Medicine who specialises in parasites, said: “Although we do not have solid figures showing health conditions of North Korea, medical experts assume that parasite infection problems and serious health issues have been prevalent in the country.”
North Korean soldiers, especially those deployed near the border with South Korea, receive priority in food rationing.
However, in addition to the parasitic worms, doctors found kernels of corn in his stomach.
More than 30,000 North Koreans have fled to South Korea since a famine killed more than a million people in the North in the 1990s.
Since then, there have been reports by international relief agencies that there is widespread malnutrition and stunted growth among many children in the North.
Meanwhile, the Kim Jong-un’s state has hit a roadblock in developing a reliable atmospheric re-energy technology that would allow their missile to return from the Earth’s orbit, South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) revealed in a report.
The NIS met with the South Korean National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee behind closed doors on Thursday.
A Parliamentary source said: “The NIS said that the North had recently carried out a few missile engine tests, but it is still not at a stage where it can complete its ICBM development.”
The report claims it is not the fault of North Korean engineering but rather evidence of how difficult reentry vehicles are to build.