Kim made the comments on Friday during a visit to an air force helicopter unit, where he praised soldiers for helping rescue people from floods that hit the country’s northwest, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported on Saturday.
North Korean leader visits air force helicopter unit
During the visit, Kim denied South Korean media claims that between 1,000 and 1,500 North Koreans had died in the floods and that several helicopters may have crashed during emergency response, calling the reports a “vicious smear campaign” by the South.
Kim called South Korea an “unchangeable enemy” and stressed that the North would never sacrifice its national defense to improve disaster recovery or people’s living standards, hinting that Pyongyang would reject Seoul’s offer of aid.
The South Korean government on Thursday offered to send aid supplies to address the “humanitarian challenges” facing North Koreans in flood-hit areas near the country’s border with China.
North Korea was widely expected to reject the offer. Hostility between the two warring foes has been at a fever pitch for years, over North Korea’s growing nuclear ambitions and South Korea’s expansion of joint military exercises with the United States and Japan.
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2024-08-03 15:49:03
