North Koreans must protect Kim dynasty effigies at all costs from Storm Khanun, which hit the peninsula on Thursday, the North Korean official gazette said.
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The “top priority” of North Koreans must be to ensure “the safety” of Kim Dynasty portraits, statues, mosaics, murals and other monuments dedicated to them, the Rodong reported. Sinmon on Thursday.
Tropical Storm Khanun, which swept through Japan before reaching the Korean Peninsula, made its way into North Korea early Friday after bringing heavy rains to its southern neighbor.
Pyongyang attaches great importance to protecting the images of the Kim dynasty. Portraits of North Korea’s founder Kim Jong-un, his father Kim Jong-il and grandfather Kim Il Sung can be seen in every home and office in the country.
Natural disasters generally have greater consequences than elsewhere in North Korea, a withdrawn and poor country. Its infrastructure is fragile and deforestation of its territory has created a breeding ground for flooding.
State news agency KCNA said Thursday that “all sectors and entities” in the country are “waging a vigorous campaign to deal with the catastrophic abnormal climate.”
“Warnings have been issued for strong winds, flooding, tidal waves and sea alerts,” KCNA added, adding that protecting crops from the typhoon is one of the priorities.
Hundreds of thousands of people starved to death in North Korea in the mid-1990s, some estimates are in the millions.
The ruling Labor Party held a meeting in February to deal with food shortages and problems in the agricultural sector.
According to Rodong Sinmun, regime officials have been asked to ensure that the country’s overall production is not affected by “natural disasters,” including typhoons.