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Additional News Releases

Washington, D.C., June 15, 2001 -- Dr. Norbert Vollertsen, a German physician who worked with the medical group Cap Anamur in North Korea for 18 months, will be the featured guest this weekend on On the Line, the weekly foreign affairs program produced for VOA and WORLDNET.  Shortly before his expulsion from North Korea on December 30, 2000, Dr. Vollertsen was able to use a hand-held video camera to document the terrible conditions he witnessed.  Three-and-a-half-minutes of this video will be seen worldwide for the first time on WORLDNET's TV broadcast of On the Line.

Nicholas Eberstadt, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of the book, The End of North Korea, also will join host Robert Reilly and Dr. Vollertsen.

Dr. Vollertsen found malnutrition, poor living standards, and other deplorable conditions throughout North Korea, despite large amounts of aid provided by the United States and other countries.  Talking about a visit to a children's hospital, Dr. Vollertsen said:

"Because of their [the children's] high rate of malnutrition, they can suffer from any disease you can imagine.  There is no hygiene.  There is no medicine.  There are no IVs available. So they are using empty beer bottles to give IVs.  There are no tablets. There is no running water, no heating system.  There is nothing to clean things.  There is no soap.  All the operating tables, they were covered with the old blood of people from several years ago.  All those facilities were extremely dirty.  You can get every disease you can imagine.  And a simple flu can kill those children because they are so malnourished."

At the beginning of his time in North Korea, Dr. Vollertsen treated a workman who was suffering from severe burns.  Using a penknife, he grafted some of his own skin onto the patient.  As a result of his treatment of this patient, Dr. Vollertsen was awarded the Friendship Medal and granted the privilege of traveling freely throughout North Korea to places Westerners are normally forbidden to visit. Dr. Vollertsen was expelled from North Korea for speaking out against the inhumane conditions under which the average North Korean lives while members of the government enjoy a comfortable life.

On the Line is broadcast by VOA radio from Washington on Saturday at 2:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 6:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m. and on Sunday at 6:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.   WORLDNET TV broadcasts the program on Sunday evening and on Monday.  On the Line is also available on the VOA Web site at http://www.ibb.gov/ontheline/.

The Voice of America is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. Government. VOA broadcasts over 900 hours of news, informational, educational, and cultural programming every week to an audience of some 91 million worldwide. Programs are produced and broadcast in English and 52 other languages.

WORLDNET Television provides news and public affairs programs that reflect American life, and discussions on United States foreign and domestic policies on seven satellites, 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, to a worldwide audience through broadcast outlets, cable systems, and direct-to-home satellite receivers. 

For additional information, please contact the Office of External Affairs at (202) 619-2538 or send email to pubaff@voa.gov.