Kumdang-2

Kumdang-2, whose name translates to golden sugar in Korean, is a North Korean injectable medication produced by the Pugang Pharmaceutical Company and developed around 1996. North Korean sources describe it as a ginseng-based formula also containing small amounts of shungite and trace gold and platinum, and state media has claimed it treats conditions including AIDS, Ebola, MERS, herpes, tuberculosis, cancer, morning sickness and harm from computer use. It was promoted internationally during the 2006 and 2013 bird flu outbreaks. A South Korean National Forensic Service analysis found the product to be mostly composed of the anaesthetic procaine, contradicting the manufacturer's stated ingredients and undermining its claimed effects. Its actual pharmacological action documented by outside analysis is that of a procaine-based local anaesthetic rather than the broad remedy North Korea describes.