N.K.'s premier visits flood-hit areas in first public activity since appointment

North Korea 08:59 August 19, 2020

SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's new Premier Kim Tok-hun visited flood-hit areas in the country's southwestern province, calling for intensifying efforts to restore damage and stabilize the lives of affected people, state media reported Wednesday.

This marked his first public activity since his appointment as the country's cabinet premier was announced late last week after the North held a politburo meeting of the ruling Workers' Party.

Kim visited flood-hit counties of North Hwanghae Province and ordered officials to do their utmost to ensure stable living conditions for those affected with top priority placed on people's interests, according to the Korean Central News Agency.

"He stressed the need for all the service personnel and builders involved in the reconstruction project to strictly abide by the anti-epidemic rules, calling for stepping up the reinforcement of embankment and floodgates on Unpha Stream and properly fixing the locations of the new dwelling houses," the KCNA said.

Unpha County in North Hwanghae Province is one of the country's hardest-hit areas.

North Korea was pummeled by recent heavy downfalls, which flooded around 39,296 hectares of crops and damaged at least 16,680 homes and some 630 public buildings, according to earlier state media reports.

The North is currently facing a double whammy of staving off the global coronavirus pandemic and restoring damage caused by the flood.

Presiding over last week's politburo meeting, leader Kim Jong-un said the country suffered serious damage from recent heavy downpours, but he noted that it should not accept any outside assistance for fear of the coronavirus risk.