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DPRK's leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting, Pyongyang, DPRK, September 5, 2020. /Reuters
Kim Jong Un, leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), on Saturday visited typhoon-hit areas in eastern South Hamgyong Province and presided over a Workers' Party meeting at the scene to discuss recovery efforts, Yonhap reported Sunday.
It's the latest in a series of high-profile visits by Kim and his deputies to areas hit by natural disasters in recent weeks.
The enlarged executive policy meeting was held to gauge the damage from last week's Typhoon Maysak that hit its eastern areas hardwhere more than 1,000 houses were destroyed, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
The meeting "had an in-depth discussion about the issue of the recovery from damage in the typhoon-hit areas of the two provinces and studied and decided on detailed measures such as organization of building force to be urgently dispatched to the areas, designs and material transport," KCNA said.
Kim also called for party members, especially those in the capital, to "take the lead in aiding the provinces when the country undergoes difficulties and hardships as it would make a great contribution to the strengthening of the single-minded unity of our society," the KCNA said.
Learning about the growth of the crops damaged by typhoon, he called for taking positive agricultural and technological measures for minimizing the reduction of the yield, it added.
Kim Jong Un visits a damaged area in the South Hamgyong Province, DPRK, September 5, 2020. /Reuters
Separately, Kim sent an open letter to party members in the capital, noting that this year has witnessed "uncommon difficulties due to the protracted worldwide public health crisis" and natural disasters.
It added that the Party Central Committee decided to dispatch 12,000 party members from Pyongyang to the typhoon-hit areas to help communities recover.
KCNA said Kim also dismissed Kim Jong IL, chairman of the South Hamgyong Provincial Committee of the Workers' Party, over an apparent failure in coping with the typhoon and a replacement was appointed.
South Korea's Unification Ministry said after Kim's early August trip that it was rare for him to visit a flood-stricken site, saying the last time he did so was in September 2015.
Typhoon Maysak, the ninth tropical storm of the season, hit the DPRK as it is still reeling from damage caused by another typhoon and heavy downpours which affected its major rice-producing areas in the southwestern province.
South Korea's weather agency said Typhoon Haishen was expected to skirt the Korean peninsula's east coast on Monday with heavy rains and strong winds.
