A mass die-off at a flagship North Korean livestock farm has sparked a high-level investigation and multiple arrests. Officials confirmed that hundreds of pigs, goats, and rabbits perished at the Sepho Tableland base in Kangwon province. The breeding complex, personally overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, serves as a national model for large-scale animal husbandry. Consequently, the incident carries grave political significance for the regime.
A joint investigation team arrived at the Sepho farm on May 22. It included officials from the Cabinet, the party’s powerful Organization and Guidance Department, and the State Information Bureau. Meanwhile, the team immediately placed the facility under full lockdown. The investigation quickly determined that negligence and corner-cutting caused the mass die-off.
Specifically, farm managers had heavily diluted disinfectant due to chronic supply shortages. They activated sprayers only for show during inspections by higher officials. Furthermore, authorities crammed animals far beyond capacity to meet meat production quotas. The resulting overcrowding raised temperatures and humidity, built up harmful gases, and collapsed the animals’ immune systems.
Most critically, farm officials engaged in a deliberate cover-up. When animals began dying, they concealed the deaths for several days and buried carcasses without authorization. They falsified records to make the herd appear alive and healthy. When investigators dug up the burial pits, they counted the carcasses themselves. They arrested the falsifying officials on the spot.
The dead animals were premium breeding stock sent from Pyongyang’s central station. The mass die-off thus became politically explosive. Consequently, the Cabinet reportedly labeled the incident an “anti-party act” that cannot be forgiven. Farm workers now fear widespread punishment. The episode has tarnished the reputation of a facility personally supervised by Kim Jong Un.
