[Yonhap Photo]
Rich false patients such as drug dealers and criminals use mental clinics as a temporary shelter to avoid legal punishment in North Korea, according to a US broadcaster.
Psychiatric hospitals called No. 49 installed in every province in North Korea are packed with false mental patients who have committed crimes, Radio Free Asia (RFA), a US government-financed nonprofit broadcasting agency, reported in a Korean-language article.
Mental clinics are popular among North Korean doctors because they can make money stably from wealthy false patients, RFA said, citing sources in the isolated country.
In return for bribes, doctors in No. 49 hospitals take rich drug users or lawbreakers who pretend to suffer from mental illness to avoid imprisonment, it said.
North Korea still claims it provides universal and free health care for all of its 25 million people. However, experts say the country's health care system has suffered a sharp decline since the 1990s because of natural disasters, economic hardships, and food and energy shortages.
Defectors claim corruption is a big problem at North Korean hospitals as doctors often charge for their services, with many clinics lacking essential medicines, equipment, and electricity due to international sanctions.
