We begin with growing concerns over the spread of African swine fever.<br />South Korea is taking drastic measures to contain the virus.<br />The military has launched a week-long quarantine operation over the skies of the Demilitarized zone... flying helicopters to spray disinfectant... while ordering border guards to shoot any wild pigs they see in the area.<br />This comes as traces of ASF were found in a dead wild boar in the DMZ for the first time on Tuesday.<br />Our Kim Jae-hee starts us off.<br />For the first time on record, African swine fever has been discovered in a wild boar in South Korea.<br />Traces of the African swine fever were found in a dead wild boar in the Demilitarized Zone in Yeoncheon,... 1-point-4 kilometers away from Southern Limit Line of the DMZ.<br />There is a possibility the wild boar could have originated from North Korea,... where an African swine fever outbreak was reported in May.<br />Because of this, South Korea's military on Friday ordered troops at the border to shoot any wild pig crossing the Demilitarized Zone.<br />Helicopters will even be used to disinfect DMZ areas, starting Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi-do Province, for seven days starting Friday.<br />The ministry has ensured that they let North Korea know of this new measure.<br />Meanwhile, a suspected new case of African swine fever has been reported on Incheon's Baekryeong-do Island on Friday.<br />South Korea's Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon, during a meeting on Friday morning at the National Disaster and Safety Status Control Center, stressed the need for better management of the outbreak.<br />"African swine fever has spread in Paju, Gimpo, and Yeoncheon. We must look back on the past handlings and check if there was adequate management of those cases."<br />The Agriculture Ministry also decided to extend the 48-hour standstill on transporting pigs.<br />"To strengthen quarantine efforts near the inter-Korean border areas, the ministry has decided to extend the movement ban on pigs previously issued for Incheon, Gyeonggi-do Province and Gangwon-do Province by another 48 hours,... starting from 3:30 AM Friday."<br />The ministry will cull all pigs within a 3-kilometer radius of the infected farms in Gimpo and Paju.<br />For the pigs outside that radius, the government will buy the pigs off the farmers.<br />The pigs will then be sent to slaughterhouses where they will be tested before the meat is sold.<br />But in order to do this, farmers must register application forms for purchase to the respective cities in advance.<br />Kim Jae-hee, Arirang News.<br />
