North Korea announces it will shelter more than 15,000 victims of floods that hit the country in July in Pyongyang

The North Korean regime has announced that it will shelter more than 15,000 victims of floods that hit the country in July in the capital, state media reported on Saturday, August 10, a move based on “self-sufficiency” Kim Jong-un said he has declined offers of aid from several foreign countries. During a visit Friday to the northwestern city of Uiju, the leader said the government planned to house about 15,400 flood victims from the region at facilities in the capital until their destroyed homes are rebuilt, according to the official KCNA news agency.

The plan, which will include food and medical aid as well as educational support for the thousands of displaced students, will be “an absolute priority of the State”Kim Jong-un said. Offers of international support have poured in since the disaster was announced. South Korea offered humanitarian aid through the Korean Red Cross, despite strained relations between the two countries. But Pyongyang, which has not responded to Seoul’s appeals since April 2023, has ignored it.

Moscow has made a similar offer, according to North Korea, and South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that China and UNICEF have also expressed willingness to help. Kim Jong-um said Friday, however, that the country’s recovery would be “entirely based on self-sufficiency”according to KCNA, and expressed his “thanks to various foreign countries and international organizations for their offer of humanitarian support”In July, North Korea experienced record torrential rains. In the southwest of the country, the city of Kaesong recorded 463 millimeters of rain in a single day.