Not the best outfit for a tour of a flood site.
Hermit Kingdom leader Kim Jong Un made a rare public appearance Monday to tour flooding in his country – while inexplicably wearing a pair of mandals.
The North Korean leader was pictured wearing a bright, white long-sleeve shirt, with black pants and matching mandals as he surveyed the mud and wetlands near the disaster site in the South Pyongan Province.
The choice in summertime footwear likely didn’t give Kim much protection against the elements, as he was also seen wading in waist-high waters along with his more aptly dressed entourage.
This isn’t the first time Kim has opted for such an odd choice in footwear, as he previously debuted his mandals during a speech in 2021.
On that occasion, where he celebrated his ruling party’s founding, Kim was seen in a black tuxedo and matching mandals, sparking speculation over his health following a three-week absence.
The mandals’ latest outing came after the disaster around the nation’s western coast, where seawater destroyed an embankment on Monday, flooding more than 560 hectares of land, nearly half of which included rice paddies, state media KCNA reported.
Following his inspection, Kim blasted government officials as “irresponsible,” singling out Kim Tok Hun, premier of the cabinet, for allegedly being lackadaisical with his duties inspecting the destroyed embankment.
The flooding, which was caused by an inadequate drainage system is “mainly attributable to the feeble work attitude and wrong viewpoint of the premier of the cabinet,” Kim said.
The North Korean leader ultimately described the flooding as a man-made disaster, chastising the officials involved as “seriously out of order,” and accusing them of “spoiling all the state economic work,” according to the state media.
Despite there being no casualties as a result of the flooding, the disaster did strike valuable farmland amid concerns over the country’s food crisis.
Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at South Korea’s Kyungnam University, suggested that Kim will likely play up the disaster as the reason for the country’s recent economic failings and give him an opportunity to reshuffle his cabinet.
“After all, Kim appears to be furious over the national economy not improving as much as he wants,” Lim said.
With Post wires
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