Kim Yong-un has distributed cakes to children who have been hit by devastating floods in North Korea.
The dictator visited flood victims on Thursday after they were relocated from northwestern regions near China due to severe flooding. State media reported large-scale measures to limit the impact of the “disastrous abnormal weather.”
Kim joined hundreds of children eating at a dining hall in Pyongyang and gave cake to the youngsters gathered around their leader.
He was photographed laughing with the children as he grabbed the treats and then hugged a few.
About 13,000 people, including children, pensioners and disabled soldiers, are currently staying at the April 25 Hotel in Pyongyang and at a military base built to train troops for parades, according to North Korea's official Central News Agency.
Kim Jong Un has distributed cakes to children relocated after devastating floods in North Korea
Kim joined hundreds of children eating at a dining hall in Pyongyang and gave cake to the youngsters gathered around their leader
He was pictured laughing with the children as he grabbed the sweets before hugging a few
This comes after state media reported on August 10 that North Korea would transfer more than 15,000 flood victims to the capital, with leader Kim Jong Un stressing that reconstruction would be “based on self-reliance” despite offers of aid from abroad.
Kim vowed to rebuild and modernize regions near the border with China that were recently hit by floods and welcomed thousands of displaced residents who have been given temporary housing in the country's capital, state media reported Friday.
Farmland and homes were flooded after heavy rains hit Sinuiju town and Uiju district, which border Chinaend of July.
North Korean state media reported earlier this month that about 4,100 homes, 7,410 hectares of farmland and numerous public buildings, roads and railways in Sinuiju and Uiju were flooded.
During an emergency meeting of the Politburo in Sinuiju, leader Kim Jong Un asked authorities to “severely punish” those who he said neglected their responsibilities for disaster prevention and “even caused casualties that cannot be tolerated,” KCNA reported.
According to KCNA, Politburo members later approved the appointment of new Workers' Party secretaries in the flood-affected areas and a new public security minister.
This photo, taken on August 15, 2024 and released by North Korea's official news agency KCNA via KNS on August 16, 2024, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (center) welcoming victims of flood-hit areas in the country's northwest after they arrived in Pyongyang.
Kim made a round through the children's dining room and spoke to a few of them
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (left) rows through floodwaters in a rowboat as he surveys the area for damage after record-breaking heavy rainfall in Sinuiju town in North Pyongan Province on July 29.
Kim Jong Un looks from a car as he inspects the area for flood damage after record-breaking heavy rains in the city of Sinuiju on July 28, 2024
During the Politburo meeting, officials decided to build 4,400 new houses, strengthen embankments in Sinuiju and Uiju and repair damaged facilities in Jagang province, KCNA reported.
Kim ordered urgent measures to provide flood victims with necessary relief materials and asked Politburo members to visit displaced people living in tents to comfort them and observe their living conditions, KCNA said.
State television broadcast footage in early August of Kim and other officials riding in rubber dinghies to survey the extent of damage in flood-ravaged areas. The footage showed many homes submerged in muddy water, with only their roofs visible.
North Korea is prone to flooding from heavy summer rains due to poor drainage, deforestation and dilapidated infrastructure.