More officials executed in North Korea due to poor response to floods?

Authorities in North Korea may have executed more officials for their poor response to catastrophic floods in July that destroyed thousands of homes and left up to 1.500 people dead or missing, according to South Korean intelligence, the Guardian reports.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service said it was closely monitoring signs that the regime had carried out executions after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un announced at an emergency meeting of the ruling party's politburo that he would severely punish those responsible for the damage, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

Heavy rains and floods hit northern Jagang and North Pyongan provinces in July, destroying thousands of hectares of farmland and displacing thousands of people, Jonhap added.

The alleged executions, which were also reported by South Korean TV Chosun, have not been independently confirmed, and North Korean state media have not mentioned them. South Korea's intelligence agency said only that it had "detected signs" that the executions had taken place, without giving details.

"Around 20 to 30 leaders have been charged with corruption and neglect of duty. They have been sentenced to death," Chosun TV reported, citing an unnamed North Korean official.

The executed officials may have included Kang Pong Hun, who was previously the chief secretary of the ruling party's provincial committee in Jagang province, South Korean media said.

Kang and other senior officials, including then-Minister of Public Security Ri Tae-sop, were removed during a Politburo meeting in late July, according to a report by state news agency KCNA.

Kim Jong Un was photographed on a boat during a relief operation in flood-hit areas of North Pyongan province, and state media claimed he was overseeing the rescue operation of around 5.000 trapped people with the help of military helicopters.

One resident told Radio Free Asia that people in and around part of Rjangang province were in danger of their lives due to flooding.

North Korea is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters due to poor infrastructure and resistance to international aid.

The country is particularly vulnerable to flooding: a summer storm in 2012 killed 169 people, while a series of floods and droughts were partly responsible for a famine that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives between 1994 and 1998.

International aid agencies appealed in 2016 to raise millions of dollars for emergency relief efforts in North Korea after typhoon-induced flooding in the country's northeast left 70.000 people homeless and 600.000 others in need of humanitarian aid, including tens of thousands of children.