2023-08-11 12:28:24
This is their “top priority”. North Koreans are being urged to protect Kim dynasty effigies at all costs from storm Khanun, which made landfall on the peninsula on Thursday. North Korea’s official newspaper insisted that “ensuring the safety” of the Kims’ portraits, statues, mosaics, murals and monuments should be the “top priority” of citizens.
Tropical Storm Khanun, which blew through Japan before arriving on the Korean Peninsula, reached North Korea early on Friday, after bringing heavy rains to its southern neighbour. Pyongyang makes a point of protecting the effigies of the Kim dynasty. Portraits of Kim Jong-un, his father Kim Jong-il and his grandfather Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea, are present in every home and office in the country.
The specter of starvation
Natural disasters generally have greater consequences than elsewhere in North Korea, a reclusive and poor country. Its infrastructure is fragile and the deforestation of its territory has created a breeding ground for flooding. State news agency KCNA said on Thursday that “all sectors and units” in the country were “waging a vigorous campaign to deal with the disastrous abnormal climate”. “Strong wind, deluge, tidal wave and maritime alerts have been issued,” KCNA added, noting that protecting crops from the typhoon was one of the priorities.
Hundreds of thousands of people died of starvation in North Korea in the mid-1990s, with some estimates running into the millions. The ruling Workers’ Party held a meeting in February to tackle food shortages and problems in the agricultural sector. According to the Rodong Sinmun, regime officials have been called upon to ensure that the country’s overall production is not affected by “natural disasters”, including typhoons.
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