North Korean Emigrants Miss Free Health Care
This is Bryan Caplan, writing at Econlog:
Yet after all their suffering, North Korean exiles who made it to South Korea still had good things to say about their homeland. The most striking:
There were things she [Mrs. Song] missed about North Korea — the camaraderie among neighbors; the free health care before the system broke down.
Frankly, this makes about as much sense as ex-cons pining for their prison hospital. The North Korean government turns a country into a prison, starves millions to death, and yet escapees still think “free health care” is worth mentioning? What’s wrong with people?
Mindboggling. Hard to believe.
I doubt if the free healthcare provided to North Korean citizens was anything someone with money would be willing to pay for.
What is that they say about how nothing is free? I’m thinking whatever health care they got probably fell under that category.
“Frankly, this makes about as much sense as ex-cons pining for their prison hospital.”
No. The ex-cons would make imminently more sense.
If they miss it so much, send them back.
They liked their free health care, UNTIL THE SYSTEM BROKE DOWN. That’s the key phrase. Free health care costs more than you’d think, I guess.
Funny, this USA Today article about transition camps for DPRK escapees in the South says the following:
“A medical clinic and a dentist office provide care many were denied in the impoverished North…
Many need special attention paid to their health. Malnutrition is the most common affliction for new arrivals. Many also have contagious diseases, particularly tuberculosis and hepatitis. Nearly all have missing teeth.”
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-03-28-korearefugees28_ST_N.htm