A representative office of the Pyongyang pharmaceutical plant “Pugang”, which sells biologically active additives (BAA), has opened in Russia. According to “ Beware, News”, the distributor of the drug “Kumdan-2” registered in the country back in 2021 and launched full-fledged work after the start of the war in Ukraine, but now the company has acquired official status and announced that it has received “exclusive rights from the manufacturer.” 

The dietary supplement “Kymdan-2” is an injection serum based on “red six-year-old Kaesong ginseng”, which is grown on soil enriched with “rare earth trace elements” . The manufacturer claims that the product also contains gold and platinum particles. The box contains eight ampoules of 2 ml. The product is sold on Russian marketplaces, the cost of three packages is 7 thousand rubles. Consumers are promised increased immunity, tissue regeneration and slower aging.

At the same time, the distributor ‘s activities do not mention selling medicines: officially, they sell cosmetics and perfumes. The publication’s correspondent called the company’s number and asked if the drug was dangerous to health. “Use it at your own risk. I am not a doctor,” the company representative replied. “The plant itself vaguely describes [side effects]. North Korean laws are such that they cannot describe everything.”

Russian pharmacists interviewed by the publication said that they had never heard of dietary supplements from North Korea. Pharmacists from Europe call such drugs from the DPRK unscientific. There is a detailed review of the use of “Kumdan-2” on the Internet. It talks about the appearance of pain in the heart  after injections and that South Korea conducted an examination of the drug, finding out that the ampoules contain procaine (novocaine) and nothing more. At the same time, in the information sheets you can find stories of the use of “Kumdan-2” by different people. The manufacturer also claims that the drug “easily cures” diseases such as AIDS, malaria, shingles, swine flu, and also eliminates drug addiction.

The representative office of “Pugang” in Russia is registered to Savva Ryndin. In addition to selling dietary supplements, he is engaged in the development of prostheses and rehabilitation of disabled people at the “Without Barriers” center. After the war in Ukraine began, the entrepreneur’s organization began collaborating with state funds to help military personnel who suffered during the fighting.

(c)THE MOSCOW TIMES 2024