North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects sites of reconstruction in Kimhwa County
PYONGYANG, Oct 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected recovery efforts in a flooded village, his latest visit to areas damaged by recent typhoons, while his sister reappeared in public for the first time in about two months, state media said.
Kim praised the speed of reconstruction work in Kimhwa County in the country’s southeast during the visit with Kim Yo Jong, KCNA reported. He said of the storms and other natural disasters: “This year has been one of unprecedented hardships.”
Summer storms and floods have hit North Korea hard, destroying thousands of homes and raising concerns of a worsening of the country’s chronic food shortages.
While praising the recovery, Kim said he “felt regretful” that new houses in the area were of a “monotonous” design. Earlier, state media had called the cookie-cutter houses a model of the “socialist fairyland”, advertising the regime’s recovery efforts after thousands of homes were destroyed by floods.
In recent weeks state media said Pyongyang had discovered “faults” in its efforts to battle COVID-19, and Kim offered a rare apology for North Korea’s killing of a South Korean official in waters off the west coast of the peninsula. — NNN-AGENCIES
