North Korea’s propaganda apparatus is breaking new ground in the way it has portrayed him battling alongside ordinary citizens as he tackles a flood emergency that has devastated a north-western area of the country and is estimated to have caused a “considerable human toll”, according to the South Korean ministry that manages relations with the neighbour.
That discrepancy could mean his government’s trying to shift the blame for a disaster that may be bigger than reported. The North Korean state media photos convey the message that Mr Kim cares deeply for his people and their unusual hands-on settings may also be intended to enhance the cult of personality around the leader.
“Kim’s recent activities are unimaginable for North Korea,” said South Korea’s state-run Korea Institute for National Unification senior researcher Cho Han-bum.
The city of Sinuiju, a trade hub connected to China by bridge, and the nearby county of Uiju were hit by torrential rains and floods in the last week of July. The downpours have damaged about 4,100 homes, swept over roads and rail links, and wiped out about 3,000ha of farmland, according to North Korean state media reports.
About 5,000 people have been rescued, according to North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), which has not reported any deaths. KCNA has gone to great lengths to showcase Mr Kim’s involvement, saying he has been at an airstrip to direct military helicopter flights to shuttle people to safety.
“The rescued people saw him waiting for them at the (violently) rainy airport so unexpectedly and broke into cheers, shedding tears of boundless gratitude and emotion,” KCNA said.
The flooding started at around the time Mr Kim was celebrating the July 27 anniversary marking the end of fighting in the 1950 to 1953 Korean War at a Pyongyang event that included a musical gala.
The exact number of casualties was not immediately known, but South Korean media outlet TV Chosun reported at least hundreds were estimated to have been killed, citing a government source it did not identify. The North Korean media has not mentioned any deaths.
South Korea has offered to provide humanitarian assistance but Pyongyang had not responded to the proposal as of Aug 1. North Korea has not accepted offers for aid from South Korea for several years and has given no public indication it wants help from its southern neighbour.
The area is a major producer of grain and any loss of cropland adds to food insecurity in a country where the United Nations World Food Programme has said about 40 per cent of the population is undernourished.
Nonetheless, the disaster comes as Mr Kim rides high, with the country’s sanctions-hit economy on the mend. The US and South Korea have said materials and food are flowing in from Russia in exchange for munitions Pyongyang is supplying to Moscow to support its assault on Ukraine.
“The flooding will not negatively affect Kim’s leadership. In fact, although it will have a negative impact on the economy, it will be a good leadership propaganda opportunity,” said Ms Rachel Minyoung Lee, a senior fellow with the 38 North Programme at the Stimson Centre.
The images in the North Korean state media show Mr Kim looking through a rolled-down window from a vehicle driving through flood waters to survey the damage. He’s also shown aboard a crowded boat without a life jacket.
“There is no better way to underscore Kim as being in complete control of the situation and caring for the people, even at the expense of his own comfort, by showing photos and videos of the leader being in command on the ground, wading through water, or riding a rubber boat across flooded areas,” said Ms Lee, who has worked as an analyst for the US Central Intelligence Agency’s Open Source Enterprise.
