S. Korea's Jeju Island to build 'black pig' farm in Pyongyang

SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Jeju Island will send equipment to build
a pig farm in Pyongyang on Friday to raise the island's local specialty, black
pigs, officials said.
The Jeju provincial government set up the "South-North Black Pig Breeding
Cooperation Project" with North Korea when a group of Jeju citizens visited
Pyongyang in late 2007. The project has finally kicked off after a year-long
delay caused by frozen inter-Korean relations, the island officials said.
Jeju will send farm equipment worth 220 million won (US$159,190), such as pens,
feeders, heat lamps and ventilators, later on Friday aboard a ship also carrying
tangerines and carrots as part of the island's annual aid to the North.
The new structure will be built inside Pyongyang Pig Farm, North Korea's largest
such facility, established in 1972. Jeju will send 100 black pigs when it is
completed, possibly by May.
Black pigs, or "heuk-doe-ji" in Korean, are native to the semi-tropical island.
They are covered in black hair and eat tangerines, carrots and sweet potato --
crops for which Jeju is well known. The animal's meat is popular for being chewy
and rich in nutrients.
"We expect this project will not only help improve the nutrition of children and
the elderly in the North but also play a key role in enhancing inter-Korean
relations," a provincial official said.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)