Kim Jong-un orders state support for flood-affected region

Seoul, Aug 8 (EFE).- North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered maximum state support for the northeastern region, hit by floods over the past week due to torrential rains, state news agency KCNA reported on Saturday.

The military commission of the South Hamyong province held a meeting on Thursday to mobilizd and send construction crews to repair the infrastructure damaged by the floods.

Kim did not attend the meeting but issued an order for the central organs to “unsparingly support the province in material and financial way or form in its recovery effort,” according to KCNA.

Heavy rains that lashed the northeastern parts of North Korea between Aug. 1-2 triggered floods that destroyed around 1,700 houses and forced around 5,000 people to be evacuated.

The calamity has damaged a large number of bridges, roads and agricultural lands in South Hamyong, according to state media.

These floods come after the country witnessed an intense heat wave last month, which heavily affected crops at a time when the country is suffering a “food crisis” as per Kim’s own admission.

North Korea decided to completely seal its borders to prevent the spread of Covid-19 last year, affecting the flow of foreign capital, while major floods and summer typhoons have also damaged agriculture in recent years

State media said last week that the southwest region of the country, key for the rice crop, is also on high alert over the possibility of heavy rains. EFE

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