Top DPRK leader guides meeting on recovery work of typhoon damage

PYONGYANG - Kim Jong-un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), presided over a meeting on Tuesday to discuss recent typhoon damage and reconstruction measures, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Wednesday.

It was an enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK), the report said.

According to the KCNA, after Typhoon Maysak hit the country on Sept. 3, more than 2,000 dwelling houses and tens of public buildings were destroyed or inundated, 60 km of roads washed away, 59 bridges collapsed, over 3,500 meters of railway roadbeds and more than 1,130 meters of rails swept away in the Komdok area of South Hamgyong province.

The restoration of the Komdok area at the earliest date is necessary for protecting the people and state properties there and it is an urgent task that should be given top priority for reviving the important arteries of the national economy, Kim said.

He stressed the need to "take state emergency measures" to make sure that new dwelling houses take shape and roads and railways are restored by Oct. 10, on which the 75th founding anniversary of the WPK falls.

Over the last month, the DPRK has suffered from three powerful typhoon invasions, the recent landfall is Typhoon Haishen, which hit the eastern part of the country on Monday with the total damage still under assessment.