Height of Cruelty :-North Koreans Ordered To Hand Over Pet Dogs To Solve Food Shortage: Report North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly ordered citizens to hand over their pet dogs as country struggles with food shortages amid a pandemic. Written By Kunal Gaurav facebook

North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has reportedly ordered citizens to hand over their pet dogs as country struggles with food shortages amid a pandemic. According to media reports, Kim had denounced pet ownership as “a tainted trend of bourgeois ideology”, leaving pet parents fearful that dogs will be used to solve the food shortages.

South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported that that North’s authorities have identified households with pet dogs and are forcing them to give them up. Citing sources, the newspaper said that some of the dogs are sent to state-run zoos or sold to dog meat restaurants and pet owners are "cursing Kim Jong Un behind his back”.

“Ordinary people raise pigs and livestock on their porches, but high-ranking officials and the wealthy own pet dogs, which stoked some resentment," the source was quoted as saying.

UN voiced alarm

In June, a United Nations human rights expert had voiced alarm over widespread food shortages and malnutrition in North Korea, which has worsened due to the coronavirus pandemic. Tomas Ojea Quintana, UN special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea told the Security Council that an increasing number of families eat only twice a day, or eat only corn, while some are starving.

North Korea has been facing multiple sanctions due to its nuclear and missile programmes that have impacted the food import, leading to widespread starvation. During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, China closed its borders for months which exacerbated the food shortages. Ojea Quintana had urged the Council to ease the sanctions imposed on North Korea and called on Pyongyang to allow humanitarian aid during these unprecedented times.

Last year, the UN’s World Food Programme had earlier estimated that 10.1 million people suffer from severe food shortages after the worst harvest in 10 years. In the Joint Rapid Food Security Assessment, the UN Mission said that the food insecurity situation is serious and could become critical during the lean season.

Source:-

R.Republicworld.com

(Image: AP)