North Korea: Kim Jong Un wants to bring 15,000 flood victims to the capital
Following severe flooding in the border region with China, North Korea will not accept foreign aid. According to a report by the state news agency KCNA on Saturday, over 15,000 flood victims were to be brought to the capital Pyongyang for care. It is estimated that it will take about two to three months to rebuild houses and stabilize the affected areas.
Kim Jong Un, according to KCNA, expressed these sentiments during a two-day trip to the city of Uiju in the northwest of the country, where he met with flood victims and discussed reconstruction efforts. The agency, as usual, praised Kim effusively, saying his visit underscored his "sacred leadership" and "warm love and ennobling spirit of devoted service to the people."
According to state media reports, heavy rainfall at the end of July flooded 4,100 houses, 7,410 hectares of farmland, and numerous public buildings, roads, and railway lines in the city of Sinuiju and neighboring Uiju. The authorities did not provide a death toll. However, Kim Jong Un was quoted as saying that officials who had neglected disaster prevention were responsible for the casualties.
Russia and China, as well as international aid organizations, offered to provide North Korea with aid supplies. However, Kim declined, stating that the country would tackle problems independently.
Kim Jong Un's determination was evident as he rejected external aid, asserting that North Korea possesses the ability to handle its challenges independently with its 'powerful' domestic resources. Despite the destruction wreaked by the floods, Kim remains steadfast in his belief that the country should rely on its own strength to rebuild and recover.
