Russia supports malnourished North Korean children with goat aid
The treaty on a comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and North Korea is becoming a tangible reality. Moscow is set to help Pyongyang combat child malnutrition. As part of this extensive agreement, Russia approved the shipment of 447 goats to North Korea.
The goats will be transported from Leningrad Oblast in Russia to the border city of Rason in North Korea. On Tuesday, the South Korean agency Yonhap reported that Russian sanitary services approved sending 447 goats to North Korea.
In an announcement from the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of the Russian Federation (Rosselkhoznadzor), it was stated that after veterinary inspection, 432 female and 15 male goats were sent to North Korea as part of the first batch of live animal exports.
These actions aim to provide dairy products to North Korean children in the face of chronic food shortages in North Korea.
Already last Friday, North Korean regime media reported that "efficient" goat farms had been built in some parts of the western port city of Nampo. The Korean Central News Agency conveyed that efforts have been consolidated to efficiently deliver dairy products to children in the region.
Is Russia helping North Korean children?
Interestingly, three years ago, Kim Jong Un called for the "establishment of a policy to provide all children across the country with dairy products and other nutritious food at the expense of state funds."
Yonhap emphasizes that the exchange of goats follows meetings between Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin. In June, Russia and North Korea signed a comprehensive strategic partnership treaty.
The United Nations Children's Fund, the World Health Organization, and the World Bank Group published an alarming report. In 2022, about one in six North Korean children under the age of 5 suffered from stunted growth due to malnutrition. 16.8 percent, or 285,000 children of this age, suffer from stunting.
