About the Author
Tae-il Shim
Tae-il Shim is a pseudonym for a North Korean defector writer. He left the DPRK in 2018, and now resides in South Korea.
Greetings, one and all, and welcome back to Ask a North Korean: the NK News feature where readers can ask our defector writers about what life is really like on the ground in North Korea.
Today's question is about the North Korean healthcare system. The official line boasts that healthcare is free for all citizens, but is this really true?