North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un ordered up to 30 officials to be executed over their alleged failure to prevent massive flooding and landslides in the summer that resulted in the death of some 4,000 people, according to South Korean media.
An official under Kim’s regime said between 20 to 30 leaders in North Korea had been charged with corruption and dereliction of duty, with the state sentencing them to capital punishment, TV Chosun reported.
“It has been determined that 20 to 30 cadres in the flood-stricken area were executed at the same time late last month,” the official told the outlet.
Reports of the executions were not immediately verified by independent outlets.
The North Korean Central News Agency previously reported that Kim ordered authorities “strictly punish” the officials after catastrophic flooding hit the Chagang Province in July, claiming about 4,000 lives and displacing more than 15,000 people.
The officials who were executed were not identified, but the report noted that Kang Bong-hoon, the Chagang Province Provincial Party Committee Secretary since 2019, was among the leaders dismissed by Kim in an emergency meeting during the flooding disaster.
Following the meeting with Kim, former North Korean diplomat Lee Il-gyu told TV Chosun that it was clear officials in the province were “so anxious that they don’t know when their necks will fall off.”
Kim was seen last month surveying the damaged areas and meeting with residents as he estimated that it would take months to rebuild the flooded neighborhoods.
The North Korean leader also slammed reports from South Korea about the death toll, refuting the allegations that thousands were killed.
It’s not the first time reports have emerged of Kim ordering officials to be taken out over a perceived failure.
In 2019, the state allegedly executed Kim Hyok Chol, its nuclear envoy to the US, for failing to negotiate a summit between Kim and then-US President Donald Trump.
It was then revealed that Chol was merely in state custody, CNN reported.
North Korea generally has a high rate of public executions, according to the Korea Times, with the state conducting an average of 10 public executions prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The outlet estimates that the rate has since surged, with at least 100 executions taking place last year.
With Post wires