The Moon Administration Agreed to Provide Enough Swiss-made Tamiflu for 200,000 People to North Korea…The suspicion of ‘Easy Monetization by North Korea’

2019-1-9, PennMike

The Moon administration agreed to North Korea’s demand for South Korea to provide Tamiflu enough for 200,000 people’s worth using South Korea’s South-North Cooperation Fund. The domestic pharmaceutical industry is in turmoil after it was revealed that the Swiss origin Tamiflu, not the domestic generic drug, is to be provided. Some question whether “the Moon administration readily accepted North Koreans demand for the original Tamiflu, which is easy to monetize on the international market.”

The Ministry of On January 8, the Ministry of Unification has held the 301st Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Promotion Council via a written form and decided on the “North-South Cooperation Fund Support Plan for the Supply of Influenza Related Goods to North Korea.” This support plan states the use 3.56 billion won ($3.2 million) in ‘Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund’ to purchase and transport the quantity of Tamiflu needed for 200,000 people. North Korea is said to have demanded Tamiflu (original) made by Roche of Switzerland. Our government immediately agreed without objection.

(Truncated) Generics have been developed dometically since August 2017, and currently there are about 100 kinds of Tamiflu generics in South Korea.

(Truncated) The Moon administration has said it is unlikely that “humanitarian aid,” such as drugs, will be converted into nuclear development funds.

이런 ‘지원품 현금화’는 외신 등을 통해 보고된 바 있다. 자유아시아방송(RFA)은 2017년 9월 북한 내부 소식통을 인용하면서 “유니세프와 유엔 산하 기관인 세계식량계획(WFP)등이 시행하는 ‘인도적 지원’은 의미가 없다”며 “순수한 의미의 인도주의 지원물자가 일부 특권층과 외화벌이 사업에 이용되고 있다는 사실을 알아야 한다”고 보도하기도 했다.​ Such ‘aid monetization’ has been reported through foreign sources. Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported in September 2017 using sources inside North Korea “The ‘humanitarian aid’ provided by UNICEF and the the World Food Program (WFP) lost its meaning” and “It should be known that the purely humanitarian aid is provided only to some privileged people [in North Korea] and is used for activities to earn foreign currency [for the Kim Jong Un regime].”

The price of Roche Tamiflu is $175 (75mg 10 prescriptions, about 200,000 won) and the price of generic Tamiflu is $135 dollars (75mg 10 prescriptions, about 150,000 won), according to overseas medical related site Plushcare.

http://www.pennmike.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=14407

[Note: 200,000 people x $175 = $35 million. That is more than the $3.2 million the South Korean Unification Ministry has stated it would spend from the South-North Cooperation Fund, which is funded by South Korean tax payers. Where will the rest come from?]