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PYONGYANGNorth Korea promised severe punishment for local officials it says failed to protect residents from a typhoon that caused a “serious incident” with dozens of victims, the ruling party’s newspaper reported.
Typhoon “Maysak” brought heavy rains across the country earlier this week, with images showing a waterlogged street in the eastern port city of Wonsan, Kangwon Province.
Rodong Sinmun, an official newspaper on Saturday, reported that the leaders had decided to punish “irresponsible” municipal and provincial officials for causing “a serious incident involving dozens of victims.”
The report did not say how many were injured, missing or killed.
The officials did not “immediately organize a project to thoroughly identify properties at risk and evacuate all residents” despite being ordered by the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, led by leader Kim Jong Un, it added.
“The decision was made to impose severe legal, administrative and party punishment on those responsible for the victims.”
Maysak also hit the south, killing at least two people. More than 2,200 people were evacuated to temporary shelters in the southern city of Busan.
Natural disasters tend to have the greatest impact in the north due to its creaky infrastructure, and the country is vulnerable to flooding as many mountains and hills have long been deforested.
Punishing local officials is a “way for North Korean leaders to avoid blaming” the victims, Ahn Chan-il, a Seoul-based defector-turned-investigator, told France-Presse news agency.
“They are sending a message that Kim Jong Un never does anything wrong, but the damage occurs only because those who work for him do not follow his order.”
