North Korea’s Kim ‘inspects’ flood response as thousands evacuated from China border region after heavy rains

Some 5,000 people were rescued from flood-hit areas along North Korea’s border with China over the weekend in efforts supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, the country’s state media reported Monday.

The North Korean army launched emergency operations in North Pyongan province as the region reeled from flooding in the wake of heavy rains that left 5,000 people “isolated” and at risk, according to state media KCNA.

Water levels at the Amnok River, or Yalu River in Chinese, which forms part of the border between the North Korea and China, had “far exceeded the danger line” due to record rains Saturday, KCNA reported, noting Kim’s assessment that flooding was “very serious” in Sinuiju City, which faces the Chinese city of Dandong.

Kim – who was pictured in images published by state media striding, windswept through an air base handling rescue and riding in an SUV through flood waters – was described as “inspecting and directing” efforts and criticizing authorities that failed to properly prepare for and prevent the disaster.

The autocrat’s appearance at the scene suggests the significance of the floods – and his desire to be seen at the fore of response to what he called “disastrous abnormal weather.”

It comes as governments across Asia are grappling with devastation and economic loss caused by extreme weather that scientists say is growing more frequent due to human-driven climate change.

Heavy rains and flooding hit wide swaths of Asia in recent days as a major storm system swept through the region. Typhoon Gaemi contributed to major flooding in parts of the Philippines and then Taiwan last week, before the storm made landfall in China’s Fujian Province Thursday evening local time and later downgraded in intensity.

In its wake, parts of coastal and central China saw substantial flooding in recent days with heavy rains moving north over the weekend, extending what has already been a devastating period of extreme weather across the country, where the typical flooding season began two months early.

At least 15 people died following a rain-triggered landslide in central China’s Hunan Province, Chinese state media Xinhua said Sunday.

China’s northeast – a key food-growing region which traditionally had been less effected by frequent flooding – is also grappling with heavy rains.

In China’s Liaoning province, across the border from North Korea’s North Pyongan, more than 45,000 people were evacuated from their homes as of Sunday morning as heavy rains hit the region, according to Xinhua.

Hundreds of chemical enterprises and mining companies across the province also suspended operations over the weekend and relocated to avoid flood risks, Xinhua said.

Southwest Liaoning remains under an orange rainstorm alert for heavy to torrential rain until Tuesday afternoon, according to China’s weather authority.