Why did North Korea use the Egyptian “pebble donkeys” in 1976

North Korea officially requested the use of Egyptian pebbly donkeys, in 1976, according to “Akher Sa’a” magazine in its May 5 issue of that year.

“Akhbar Al-Youm Gate” clarified the details of the deal, which it described as “one of the strangest import deals,” as the North Korean authorities demanded from Egypt to supply them with Egyptian “hassawi” donkeys to improve the donkey breed they had and use them in agriculture.
North Korea asked Egypt to import 200 pebbly donkeys, to pay for them in cash and hard currency, in order to use them in collective farms throughout the country, stipulating some specifications in the donkeys that it wants to import from Egypt.

North Korea has specified the specifications of the donkeys to be imported, requesting that they range in age from one to five years, in addition to that 90% of the donkeys exported are female.

For its part, the Veterinary Department of the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture has prepared special specifications for donkeys required to be exported in order to preserve the global reputation of stone donkeys in different countries of the world, where a committee of veterinarians was formed to examine the donkeys and issue medical certificates proving that they are free of any infectious diseases before exporting them.

It was agreed, in fact, that a Korean ship would pass through Port Said port within two weeks of reaching the agreement to transport pebbly donkeys from Egypt to North Korea.

In a related context, the news of finding dozens of slaughtered and skinned donkeys in an area in Upper Egypt sparked widespread controversy and fears among citizens about the use of their meat in barbecue shops.
Last Sunday, citizens in Naga Arab al-Khor, in Sohag Governorate (south), found dozens of slaughtered and skinned donkeys.

For his part, Dr. Ahmed Hamdi, Director of the Slaughterhouses and Meat Inspection Department in the Veterinary Medicine Directorate in Sohag, told Masrawy that the slaughtered donkeys were found in the aforementioned place.

He added that by inspecting the place, it was found that the bodies of 30 slaughtered donkeys were found, with only the skin missing, and there is no shortage or disappearance from the rest of the animal body parts.

Hamdi stressed that the motive behind committing the incident was the leather trade, not the meat trade, which is confirmed by the safety of animal bodies, noting that the incident is likely to have been committed last Saturday.