Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed condolences to his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un over the devastating floods that have left countless casualties and thousands of homes damaged, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
The North said on Sunday that Putin had also offered “urgent humanitarian aid” to help with their reconstruction efforts, to which Kim responded that he could “deeply feel the special emotion towards a true friend”.
Pyongyang said it received record rainfall this week on July 27, killing an unknown number of people, flooding homes and inundating large swathes of farmland in the north near China.
“I ask you to express my sympathy and support to all those who have lost their loved ones as a result of the typhoon,” Putin said in a telegram to Kim.
“You can always count on our help and support.”
The official KCNA said on Saturday “Moscow’s message of sympathy was delivered to the DPRK Foreign Ministry” and was immediately conveyed to leader Kim.
Kim thanked Putin for the initiative, but added that “the steps taken by the state at the current stage are already established plans.”
According to the KCNA report, Kim said of the offer that “if assistance is necessary along the course, he will ask for it from his true friends in Moscow.”
Pyongyang said on Wednesday that an unknown number of casualties were caused by officials who neglected disaster prevention duties, without giving details about the location.
There were no casualties in the Sinuiju region, which Pyongyang said on Saturday had been the area “most affected by the floods.”
North Korea and Russia have been allies since the latter’s founding after World War II and have grown even closer since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
South Korean media, which has offered immediate aid to victims, said this week the number of dead and missing could rise to 1,500.
Kim strongly criticized the reports, calling them a “campaign to defame us and tarnish North Korea’s image.”
North Korea is accused of violating arms control measures by supplying weapons to Russia for the war in Ukraine.
The isolated and poor country is more vulnerable to natural disasters because of its weak infrastructure, while deforestation has left it vulnerable to flooding.
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