Kim orders shelter, food aid to flood-hit zones

SEOUL: Leader Kim Jong Un visited parts of southern North Korea, where days of torrential rains have flooded hundreds of houses and vast areas of agricultural land, state media reported on Friday.

It is rare for Kim to visit a flood-stricken site. The last time state media reported such a visit was in September 2015, when he inspected recovery work at a flood-hit northeastern city, according to Seoul’s Unification Ministry.

Kim’s latest visit could be seen as an effort to bolster an image of a leader who cares about public livelihood at a time when the North’s economic woes are believed to have worsened due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, presides over an executive policy council meeting at the ruling Workers’ Party in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020. AP PHOTO

Covid-19 forced North Korea to close its border with China, its biggest trading partner, in January. Extensive flooding only added to the North’s economic troubles. On Friday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim inspected a town in North Hwanghae province, where a water levee gave way, following a rainstorm.

The agency said the levee break left more than 730 single-floored houses and 600-odd hectares of rice field inundated and 179 housing blocks destroyed in Unpha County. KCNA said no casualties have been reported.

KCNA said Kim visited the scene and ordered shelters to be arranged for displaced people and residents to be supplied with food grain from his own reserves.

Kim also announced that officials will be dispatched to direct work in building 800 model houses in the town and that the army, along with the local residents, will be mobilized to rebuild roads and other infrastructure there.

North Korea often suffers heavy damage from summer rain due to poor drainage, deforestation and dilapidated infrastructure, particularly in North Hwanghae province, which is a main agricultural region.

Friday’s KCNA dispatch did not mention possible flood-related damage in other parts of North Korea. It also did not say exactly when Kim visited the province.

In Seoul, Unification Ministry spokesman Cho Hyesil told reporters that South Korea maintains its policy of pushing for humanitarian cooperation with North Korea on nonpolitical issues such as natural disasters.

Source: TheManila Times