North Korean residents staying in Pyongyang after being displaced by floods in northwestern regions, including North Phyongan Province, hold a meeting to adopt letters of thanks to be sent to leader Kim Jong-un, in this photo published by the Korean Central News Agency on Dec. 20, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — North Korea touted the recovery of the country’s flood-damaged northwestern regions as “miracles” in reports released Monday, using the occasion to portray leader Kim Jong-un as a “benevolent father.”
“The flood-hit areas of North Phyongan, Jagang and Ryanggang provinces have turned into ideal socialist villages,” the North’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, referring to regions where recovery efforts have been under way since severe floods in late July.
More than 15,000 modern dwelling houses, nurseries, kindergartens, schools and hospitals were newly built in those regions within about four months, the reports said.
Additionally, over 6,000 residential houses were repaired, along with embankment, river improvement and railway projects, the KCNA said, highlighting that “miracles were wrought in the history of construction.”
The same stories appeared on the front page of the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, which caters to the general North Korean readership.
The KCNA emphasized that Kim “energetically led the whole course of the rehabilitation project,” ranging from guiding rescue operations and deciding on rapid flood damage repairs to personally inspecting flood-hit areas.
Residents and schoolchildren from the affected areas returned home after staying in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, during the recovery efforts, the KCNA reports also said.
During their stay in Pyongyang, “They were tearfully shown the loving care of” the leader and “more keenly realized that our socialist house holding Kim Jong-un in high esteem as a benevolent father is the bosom of the destiny and the cradle of life,” the reports said.
Heavy rains in late July inundated large areas along the Amnok River near North Korea’s northern border, with many presumed killed or missing in the subsequent floods.
South Korea’s unification ministry has said North Korea appears focused on alleviating public discontent caused by the floods, while emphasizing the regime’s recovery efforts and promoting Kim as a leader who cares for people’s livelihoods.
(Yonhap)
