SEOUL — Medical staff treating a wounded North Korean defector found numerous parasites inside his body, revealing a picture of poor health that may be commonplace in the north. <br /><br />The North Korean border guard was shot several times while fleeing across the demilitarized zone to South Korea last week.<br /><br />According to Reuters, surgeons treating the defector found several parasites inside his body. Several of these were removed from his digestive tract, including one 27 cm long roundworm.<br /><br />That is likely due to farming practices in the north where human excrement is used as fertilizer due to a lack of chemical fertilizer. Known as night soil, this practise is notorious for spreading parasites and disease.
