Kim Jong-un blasts North Korea weather service for ‘incorrect’ forecasts
Kim calls for meteorological observation in North Korea to be put on a 'modern and scientific basis' in rare rebuke of government agency
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has censured his country’s weather service for “incorrect” forecasts in a rare public dressing down of a government body in the reclusive nation, which suffers regular natural disasters.
Kim criticised the science used in observations and called for the use of modern equipment in the unusual rebuke, which came during an inspection of the country’s Hydro-meteorological Service, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
“There are many incorrect forecasts as the meteorological observation has not been put on a modern and scientific basis,” Kim said, urging the agency to “fundamentally” improve its work and equipment.
“There are many incorrect forecasts as the meteorological observation has not been put on a modern and scientific basis.”
Accurate forecasts are needed to protect the “lives and properties” of people from disasters caused by “abnormal climatic phenomenon”, he said.
Calling the weather service “very important work directly affecting the overall economic affairs”, Kim also underscored the need to “modernise meteorological observation equipment at a high level”, KCNA said.
It was not clear when Kim visited the agency, but public criticism of government officials during field trips by North Korean leaders is extremely rare.
Undated pictures released by KCNA showed Kim giving “field guidance” inside the weather service in the capital, some of his audience standing attentively with arms by the side.
El Nino now '90pc likely to strike this year', causing change in Hong Kong's weather patterns
North Korea has suffered regular chronic food shortages under the ruling Kim dynasty, with the situation exacerbated by floods, droughts and mismanagement.
In May, state media reported that North Korea was hit by its worst spring drought in more than three decades, threatening thousands of acres of staple crops.
During a famine in the mid to late-1990s, hundreds of thousands died.
