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Andrea Valentino
Andrea Valentino is a journalist based in New York. His work has appeared in, among others, The Economist and The Independent. He occasionally tweets.
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Features Sowing the seeds of improving agriculture: Quakers in North KoreaThe American Friends Service Committee has been helping farmers in North Korea for nearly 40 years ![]() On a snowy day in 2001, Ro Song Cho came to Bear Creek. Pausing in Iowa on a seven-week tour of the United States, the-then deputy director of the North Korean ministry of agriculture took time to chat to local farmers, and get pictured with Iowa heifers. Ro even enjoyed a potluck dinner in Bear Creek, eaten in a squat wooden cabin flanked by endless prairie. This surreal encounter can be explained by the location for the Iowa potluck: the local Quaker Meeting House. For nearly 40 years, the Society of Friends has flourished in North Korea, developing relationships with officials and farmers that improve lives even now. © Korea Risk Group. All rights reserved. |