Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ajosshi]

South Korea Steps Up Fight Against Human Flesh Pills from China

South Korean customs officials are boosting efforts to stamp out illegal smuggling of drugs that are allegedly coming from China. Reason: The drugs supposedly contain human flesh.

The pills, disguised as performance enhancement drugs, have been smuggled in by ethnic Koreans living in northern Chinese cities and contain so-called super bacteria that is hazardous to human health, the statement said.

South Korea�s crackdown on the drugs began last year after SBS, one of the nation�s major television broadcasters, ran a documentary accusing Chinese pharmaceutical companies of collaborating with abortion clinics to make pills allegedly made of human fetuses and the remains of dead infants.

The documentary claimed that DNA tests verified that the pills were made from powdered humans.

China�s Ministry of Health launched an investigation into the drugs� origins last August, according to the state-owned China Daily. Representatives from the Ministry of Health did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Demand for the pills has been driven by the belief that the fetus is a �tonic� for disease, the China Daily cited the documentary as saying. Consumption of human placentas is more common in China, where it is believed to help revive blood supply and circulation, according to the China Daily report. A report in the Global Times, a tabloid published by the official People�s Daily, said the human flesh pill were used to enhance sexual performance.

The Korean customs announcement comes less than a month after China�s drug regulators announced the suspension of sales of 13 drugs (11 Chinese traditional medicines and two antibiotics) after finding they were encased in gelatin capsules that contained excessive levels of chromium. According to China�s state broadcaster, CCTV, the toxic drug capsules were believed to originate from factories in China�s coastal Zhejiang province and had been made using scraps of leftover leather.

Pills smuggled into Korea have come from China�s northern cities of Yanji, Jilin, Qingdao and Tianjin, the Korean customs statement said.

The Korean customs office has requested an examination of ingredients to determine if a legal import channel can be established for non-hazardous health supplements from China, the statement said.

Edit: This item has been edited to make clear the origin of the claim that the pills contain fetal material.

http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/05/07/south-korea-steps-up-fight-against-human-flesh-pills-from-china/

[ThingsComeAround]

Coming up next in the news...


Soylent Green

[soomin]