North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un may have ordered at least 30 government officials to be executed after the devastating floods over the summer that killed thousands, according to a new report from South Korea.
The South’s TV Chosun reported Tuesday that North Korean authorities sentenced between 20 and 30 people to capital punishment last month for their failure to stop the deadly flooding.
An official was quoted as telling the outlet, “Twenty to 30 cadres in the flood-stricken area were executed at the same time late last month.”
While it’s difficult to know the details given the North’s extreme secrecy, the North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) has reported that Kim ordered authorities to “strictly punish” the officials after catastrophic floods hit the Chagang Province, near the border with China, in July.
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North Korean state media reported that heavy rains in late July left more than 4,000 homes as well as numerous other public buildings, structures, roads and railways flooded in the northwestern city of Sinuiju and the neighboring town of Uiju.
Kim blamed public officials who had neglected disaster prevention for causing “the casualty that cannot be allowed.”
The North has rebuffed offers of aid from China, Russia and even South Korea, with whom tensions remain at all-time highs.
Kim made a two-day tour of Uiju in early August to meet flood victims and discuss recovery efforts. While touring there, Kim was quoted by KCNA as accusing the South of exaggerating the extent of the damage from the floods, decrying it as a “smear campaign” and a “grave provocation” against his government.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.