Kim Jong-un Inspects Flood Damage Site: "Supply My Share of Reserve Grain and Materials" (Comprehensive)

Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Orders Release and Supply of Strategic Reserve Materials
Eunpa County, Hwanghaebuk-do, Flooding of Houses and Farmland Due to Embankment Collapse
"Urgent Movement and Deployment of the People's Army"... Military Mobilized for Damage Recovery

On the 5th, North Korea's Chairman of the State Affairs Commission, Kim Jong-un

Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea, inspected the flood damage site and instructed that the reserved grain and supplies allocated to him be used to support the flood victims.

On the 7th, North Korea's state media, Korean Central News Agency, reported, "Comrade Kim Jong Un understood the flood damage situation on-site in the area of Daecheong-ri, Eunpa County, Hwanghaebuk-do."

In Eunpa County, continuous heavy rain caused the collapse of embankments, flooding about 730 single-family houses and approximately 600 pyeongbo (1 pyeongbo equals 3,000 pyeong) of rice paddies, with 179 houses collapsing, resulting in significant damage, the agency reported. However, residents had evacuated to safe areas in advance, so there were no casualties.

Chairman Kim proposed measures to use even the strategic materials allocated to his share to help the flood victims.

The agency stated, "He instructed the relevant departments to issue documents to release the Chairman of the State Affairs Commission's reserved grain to supply to the affected people on a household basis," adding, "He emphasized the importance of securing construction materials, including cement necessary for the restoration work, and instructed to release and guarantee the Chairman's strategic reserve materials according to the required amount."

Kim Jong Un personally visiting the flood-affected area and ordering the use of reserved materials, including food under his name, which are essentially for wartime preparedness, is interpreted as a move to highlight his image as a leader who cares for people's livelihoods. Additionally, it reflects an intention to soothe public sentiment suffering from a triple hardship caused by accumulated sanctions against North Korea, COVID-19, and floods. This is the second time Kim Jong Un has personally visited a flood site since taking power. Previously, he inspected flood restoration work in Rason City, Hamgyongbuk-do, in 2015.

The North Korean State Emergency Disaster Committee is reportedly strengthening its command system to minimize damage from floods and heavy rains, according to a report by the Korean Central News Agency on the 5th.

Flood victims who lost their homes are instructed to stay in public buildings such as the county party committee and county people's committee offices, as well as in private households, with the provision of bedding, daily necessities, and medicines fully entrusted to the departments of the Party Central Committee and the families of headquarters staff. The term "headquarters families" refers to the families of all members of the Party Central Committee departments.

He also announced the mobilization of the military for recovery efforts. Kim Jong Un said, "The People's Army will organize the necessary forces to urgently move and deploy, and together with the people in the army, will prioritize the restoration of destroyed houses, roads, and land leveling projects." Separately, a recovery project command team composed of relevant departments of the Party Central Committee and officials from the Ministry of People's Armed Forces was organized to report on the allocation of necessary materials and manpower.

Kim Jong Un stated, "We must dispatch central design capabilities and devise an operation to newly build 800 farm households in Eunpa County, which suffered severe flood damage, as a model, and complete the construction at the highest level within a short period." He emphasized, "The Cabinet, State Planning Commission, provinces, and central agencies should clearly understand the Party's intentions regarding the Eunpa County recovery construction project and actively cooperate."

On the 6th, Korean Central TV reported that farmland in Sadong District, Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, was submerged due to heavy rain. Jo Gwang-cheol, head of the district cooperative farm management committee, said, "As you can see, crops in low-lying areas are being damaged."

Meanwhile, restoration work has begun at the North Korean flood sites swept by heavy rain. With forecasts predicting continued heavy rain until mid-month, efforts are accelerating to remove soil accumulated on farmland and to raise fallen crops.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.