PM visits pig farm near border with North Korea

Prime Minister Lee Nakyon on Saturday visited a pig farm and the Civilian Control Zone near the border with North Korea, making his third visit to border areas to check efforts to prevent an outbreak of African swine fever.

South Korea has been on high alert since North Korea told the World Organization for Animal Health late last month that pigs had died from the highly contagious disease at a farm on its border with China.

All pig farms in border areas have been ordered to build fences to prevent possible contact between their pig and wild boars. More cleaning and disinfection facilities have been set up in border areas.

Visiting a pig farm in Gangwon province, Lee told officials that efforts to prevent an outbreak of African swine fever would last long and called for them to thoroughly take disinfection and quarantine measures in border regions.

Although African swine fever is not harmful to people, it is fatal and highly infectious for pigs, with no cure currently available. Since its outbreak in China in August, the disease has spread to neighboring countries, like Mongolia and Vietnam.

The South Korean government has been rolling out stronger quarantine measures to prevent the disease from entering the country, including imposing stronger fines on people bringing in livestock products.