[News Today] IMMENSE VALUE OF CATTLE IN NK

[LEAD]
We continue with North Korean news. Recently obtained footage by KBS exposes North Korea's outdated farming methods, primarily using cattle. Apparently, the act of slaughtering a cattle is condemned as a 'major crime' , while those risking their lives to save these animals are celebrated as heroes. Here's more.

[REPORT]
Cattle strapped with farming tools plow the field.

They are specifically tamed for farming and in this video, a father and daughter are criticized for secretly butchering dozens of these precious working cattle.

Education video for N. Korean residents /
These two people surnamed Dong perpetrated a crime of slaughtering some 80 working cattle, which are national assets, for their own profit.

It details the crime noting the father slaughtered 60 and the daughter about 20 cattle.

Education video for N. Korean residents /
They illegally traded beef and other byproducts for KPW 35 mn profit, which they squandered, committing a grave crime.

Meanwhile a farmer who risked his life to rescue cattle from being swept in flash floods is hailed as a hero.

Education video for N. Korean residents /
This hero surnamed Ri, with other farm workers, exerted utmost effort for several hours to rescue cows out of raging water to a safer place.

This video is a stark testament to the enormous importance of cattle in North Korean agriculture.

The regime is striving to mechanize the sector, talking about how leader Kim Jong-un sent tractors to Yanggangdo Province this spring. But such efforts are not proving to be particularly effective.

Kim Hyuk/ Korea Rural Community Corporation
Fuel for agriculture is limited due to global sanctions so there's no other way but to keep using working cattle.

With a low mechanization rate and chronic fuel and fertilizer shortage, and plus this year's severe flood damage, pundits worry North Korea's food crisis will likely worsen this year.

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