North Korea's salmon scene revealed
As it turns out, eyed eggs of Atlantic salmon have been sent to North Korea from Norway since 2008. AquaGen - one of the world’s leading suppliers of such genetic material - claims to have cleared the shipments by Norwegian authorities, given the severe trade restrictions imposed on the country as a result of its pursuit of weaponry that could reach western nations.
Last week, Kate Pickles posted the following material for Mailonline, which included a series of pictures of the country’s leader at the production sites;
The secretive state of North Korea has long been accused of fishy goings-on but Kim Jong Un has embraced it in these latest photos. The dictator said his 'shoulders naturally shook with joy' when he visited the army-ran salmon farm on Saturday, just days after losing his temper over the 'incompetent' management of a turtle farm in Pyongyang. Kim took a tour of two interconnected fish farms, the Sokmak Atlantic Salmon Breed-fish Ground and Raksan Offshore Salmon Fish Farm, which are under the supervision of the Korean People's Army Unit 810, reported Yonhap (North Korean News Agency).
He commended both operations, according to Korean Central News Agency, expressing his 'great satisfaction' over the recycling of water used in an incubation area for the salmon, to another location where rainbow trout were being raised. The state media claimed the first farm Kim visited incubates 4.3 million salmon eggs each year. When the newly hatched become fry, they are moved to the adjacent Naksan sea salmon farm, a local television network said.
The leader, who recently continued his ruthless purge of top-ranking officials with another raft of executions over their failure to give soldiers more food, toured the incubation area, a salmon breeding room and indoor and outdoor ponds. 'I feel I've come to a special place, [since] the farming center truly is located on a great site,' he was quoted as saying. 'Here I have seen yet another precious resource of the Great Fatherland, that has been handed down from generation to generation.' His praised the Korean People's Army Unit 810 in charge of the farms and said good things are always waiting for him when he visits with the military unit. He said the unit was commendable because it 'abides by the revolutionary precepts of previous generations,' reports said.
