A German daily says the first batch of beef the German government provided to help stave off famine in North Korea ... was distributed fairly to the needy. The Tages Spiegel said most of the six thousand tons of beef went to children, the elderly and weak, and patients. The paper quoted German officials who monitored the distribution in North Korea. The monitors said North Korea's state-controlled economy made the orderly distribution of beef possible and unlike other countries, the beef donation did not threaten the local beef market. The second beef shipment is expected to depart for the North as soon as the German Agricultural Ministry gives its approval. The German government offered to provide North Korea with 18 thousand tons of beef in April when Europe was struck by the mad cow disease scare and subsequent beef market crisis.