Kim Jong-un, the Chairman of the North Korean State Affairs Commission, recently held a meeting where he replaced the police chief responsible for the flood damage near the Amnok River’s mouth and the secretaries appointed for North Pyongan Province and Jagang Province. The decision was made during an emergency expanded meeting of the 22nd Political Bureau of the 8th Central Committee of the ruling party in Sinuiju city, North Pyongan Province, which took place from the 29th to the 30th of last month, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency on the 31st.
Chairman Kim made these decisions during the emergency meeting held in Sinuiju city, North Pyongan Province, which had been flooded due to heavy rain on the 30th, as reported by the Korean Central News Agency on the 31st.
He replaced the police chief equivalent to the head of the social safety department with Pang Tae-seop by appointing him as the 1st Deputy Director of the Military Affairs Bureau, and appointed Lee Hyong, former 1st Deputy Director of the Organizational Guidance Bureau, as the secretary for North Pyongan Province, while dismissing Kang Bong-hoon, the secretary for Jagang Province, and relocating Park Sung-cheol, the former secretary for North Pyongan Province, to his position. The demotion was significant as Jagang Province is considered inferior to North Pyongan Province in terms of scale and importance.
On the 29th, Chairman Kim stated, “Those who have caused unacceptable loss of lives through severely negligent performance of their duties assigned by the Party and the state will be strictly punished,” which was followed by the personnel changes the next day.
During the emergency meeting, he criticized officials for failing to properly operate the national-level emergency crisis response system, which led to increased risks, as well as for inadequate disaster prevention works that caused damage even in areas that had not experienced such problems in the past.
According to the reports, heavy rain in Sinuiju city and Uiju county in North Pyongan Province along the lower reaches of the Amnok River flooded around 4,100 households and 3,000 hectares of farmland, along with public buildings, facilities, roads, and railways. The extent of casualties mentioned by Chairman Kim was not disclosed. To urgently address the damage, decisions were made to organize ‘damage recovery headquarters’ in North Pyongan Province and Jagang Province respectively, focusing the national capacity on recovery efforts.
Furthermore, the subordinate units under the recovery headquarters will include staff departments and political sections for design, construction, and material procurement, with senior officials to be dispatched from the Central Committee of the Party and relevant departments in the Cabinet, provinces, central institutions, armed forces, county party committees, and military supplies departments.
The meeting was attended by members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party, as well as political bureau members and alternate members, with officials responsible for energy, railways, telecommunications, and agriculture sectors also present to discuss recovery efforts. The meeting was held inside a train designated as the ‘moving office’, where Chairman Kim can also stay overnight, equipped with bulletproof features and armed with artillery in case of emergency.