U.S. aid group sends canned meat to N. Korea

SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- An international Christian relief group shipped 144,000 cans of meat to North Korea for a year through March to help the impoverished nation cope with food shortages, the group has said in a recent report.

The Mennonite Central Committee, headquartered in the United States and Canada, said in its "Canner Times 2019-2020" report published on its website that the canned meat was provided to the North between April last year and March this year.

The report did not provide further details, but the group usually ships canned beef, pork, chicken and turkey, and the food is distributed to children, as well as tuberculosis and hepatitis patients.

The amount accounts for about 20 percent of the 670,899 cans of meat that the MCC provided to 10 countries around the world during the same period. North Korea was the second-biggest recipient of the aid after Ethiopia, according to the report.

The organization has been providing humanitarian aid to the poverty-stricken North since 1995.

julesyi@yna.co.kr
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