But it's anger that drives him. He found just such a change in North Korea, gaining unusual access to many regions, thanks to his decision to supply some of his own skin to a burn victim in the port city of Haeju. The medal became a ticket to a nightmare. Expecting to see conditions in the countryside reflecting the rising prosperity in Pyongyang, he found instead hospitals without basic medical equipment.
People are in such bad condition they have heart problems and brain defects due to lack of protein.
Young adults have no hope, no future. You can see it in their eyes. Some find solace in a crude alcohol that dulls their sorrows, and ruins what's left of their health. The scenes convinced him that much of the aid donated by the outside world wasn't saving the lives it was intended to save. Vollertsen, who admits that his evidence is anecdotal, says he has seen food and medical equipment supplied by his agency locked inside a warehouse when it should already have been distributed.