North Korea’s Kim lambasts premier over flooding, possible bid to shift blame for bad economy

By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says leader Kim Jong Un has severely rebuked his premier and other senior officials over their “irresponsible” response to recent flooding that inundated farmlands. Observers say Kim’s lambasting of top officials likely aims to shift blame for the country’s worsened economic hardships and food insecurity to them to ease public complaints. Kim on Monday visited a western coastal tideland, where seawater recently destroyed the embankment, flooding more than 270 hectares of rice paddies. State media cite Kim as calling the flooding a manmade disaster. He criticized Premier Kim Tok Hun for showing “the attitude of an onlooker” amid recovery works.