North Korea has executed up to 30 officials for failing to prevent flooding and landslides last month, according to South Korean television news outlet TV Chosun.
The outlet quoted a government official as saying, “It has been determined that 20 to 30 cadres in the flood-stricken area were executed at the same time late last month.”
The individuals were deemed responsible for the Yalu River flooding last month, which was caused by heavy rains and resulted in the isolation, displacement, and death of more than 5,000 residents, according to Daily NK, a South Korea-based news outlet covering North Korea.
Officials have reportedly also been charged with corruption and dereliction of duty.
Following the flood, Kim Jong-un met with Kang Bong-hoon, the Chagang Province Provincial Party Committee Secretary since 2019, and the Minister of Public Safety in an emergency meeting, where he dismissed them both, according to Chosun TV.
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A former North Korean diplomat, Lee Il-gyu, spoke to Chosun TV regarding the dismissals and said, “Even though there was recent flood damage, they were dismissed for social security reasons, and the executives themselves are so anxious that they don’t know when their necks will fall off.”
The Yalu River floods and landslides that hit the China-North Korea border caused more than 4,000 buildings and 3,000 hectares of farmland in Sinuiju city and Uiju county to be submerged, according to the Korean Central News Agency, as reported by the Japanese Newspaper Nikkei Asia.
Kim Jong-un ordered officials to bring approximately 15,4000 displaced individuals to the capital to recover after the floods, rejecting international aid, and said it would take two to three months to rebuild and stabilize the areas affected by the floods according to the Associated Press.
Other areas affected by the floods include the provinces of North Pyongan, Ryanggang, and Jagang, according to satellite images from August 8, Newsweek previously reported.
Executions of officials and members of the public are not uncommon in North Korea — the country saw 10 public executions annually prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and since then, public executions have exponentially increased to approximately 100, according to the Korea Times.
Moreover, the numbers of executions of young people in North Korea are rising according to Seoul, as the country attempts to diminish South Korea’s influence.
North Korea claims that public executions rarely take place and that the death penalty is seldom used.
Newsweek has reached out to the North Korean Embassy in London for comment via email.
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