N.Korea sends aid to 800 families suffering from intestinal epidemic

FILE PHOTO: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sends home-prepared medicines to the Haeju City Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in this photo released by the country's Korean Central News Agency on June 16, 2022. KCNA via REUTERS

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and other senior officials prepared aid to send to 800 families suffering from an unidentified intestinal epidemic, state media reported on Friday, as the country also battles its first COVID-19 outbreak.

North Korea revealed this week it was facing an "acute enteric epidemic" on top of a weeks-long outbreak of COVID. It did not elaborate what the disease was, but enteric refers to the gastrointestinal tract.