By Kim Jae-heun







North Korea's infant mortality rate is eight times higher than that of the South, according to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA), Tuesday.







The institute's report, based on World Health Organization data, showed 24 out of every 1,000 North Korean newborns died in 2017. In South Korea, only three out of every 1,000 died last year.







Data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs showed 25 percent of the North Korean population, including 1.7 million children, did not receive basic medical services last year. It warned they were exposed to the risk of contracting fatal diseases.







"North Korea suffers from poor infrastructure and limited supply of medical services, which make infants and children vulnerable to serious diseases," Cho Sung-eun, a chief researcher at KIHASA said.







According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), 5.7 percent of North Korean babies weighed less than 2.5 kilograms at birth in 2010, presumably due to the undernourishment of their mothers, fecundity and the poor economic situation.







However, the North Korean infant death rate is gradually decreasing as the report showed 41 children out of every 1,000 under the age of five died in 2009, down from 77 in 2004 and 92 in 1998.







This is seen as the result of an increase in the immunization rate, which has reached almost the same level as South Korea in recent years with the help of international aid groups, according to the report.







In 2000, the immunization rate for North Korean infants reached only 78 percent, but it increased to near 98 percent last year.







"The health issues related to North Korean infants are very important for the future of the Korean Peninsula. We have to consistently make efforts to make life better in North Korea through long-term investment," Cho said.

