North Koreans ordered to protect Kim dynasty portraits as Tropical Storm Khanun batters east Asia
After battering Japan and South Korea, Tropical Storm Khanun is heading towards North Korea, where citizens have been told they must prioritise safeguarding propaganda portraits of their leaders, according to the country's official newspaper.
Key points:
- North Korea has ordered flood-mitigation measures and work to salvage crops
- More than 15,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in South Korea
- Flood-hit northern China is preparing for Khanun, the second storm to hit the region in two weeks
Khanun, which started as a typhoon but has since been downgraded, hit Japan with heavy rains, interrupting flights and leaving about 16,000 households without power.
Downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm, Khanun next made landfall on the South Korean coast on Thursday before heading towards the capital Seoul.
Although weakened, Khanun looks set to strike North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, on Friday.
State media there reported that the military and the ruling party had been ordered to prepare flood-mitigation measures and salvage crops.
Natural disasters tend to have a greater impact on the isolated and impoverished North due to its weak infrastructure, while deforestation has left it vulnerable to flooding.
But Pyongyang's official Rodong Sinmun said North Koreans' "foremost focus" should be "ensuring the safety of" propaganda portraits of its leaders, as well as the country's statues, mosaics, murals and other monuments to the Kims.
Pyongyang is extremely sensitive and protective when it comes to the image of the ruling Kim dynasty.
Portraits of current leader Kim Jong Un's father and grandfather are ubiquitous, adorning every home and office in the country.
Pyongyang's Korean Central News Agency said on Thursday that "all the sectors and units" in the country were "conducting a dynamic campaign to cope with disastrous abnormal climate".
"Strong wind, downpour, tidal wave and sea warnings were issued," it added.
Efforts were also being made by officials in the agriculture sector to proactively safeguard crops against the typhoon, according to KCNA.
The North has periodically been hit by famine, with hundreds of thousands of people dying — estimates range into the millions — in the mid-1990s.
The country held a high-level party meeting in February to specifically address food shortages and agricultural problems.
