"More than 80% of the vaccine against North Korea's bioterrorism has expired."

Representative Heo Young of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, said more than 80% of the military's vial vaccine has expired in preparation for bioterrorism in North Korea.

Representative Heo said that out of about 1.36 million doses, only 220,000 doses, or about 16%, of the vaccines that remain valid, are estimated.

It also added that although the vaccine has a five-year validity period, the county has not purchased a new vaccine since 2019.

The headpox vaccine prevents infectious diseases that occur when contacting people or animals infected with monkeypox virus, and the Ministry of National Defense said it has an expiration date of five years, but is extending it through quality tests, explaining that there has been no problem so far.

Representative Heo, however, said that next year's budget did not reflect the purchase budget for the Duchang vaccine, stressing that vaccinating expired vaccines does not conform to public sentiment and common sense.