Tour through floods

Proceedings: Kim Jong Un crashes boat into tree

An employee of the dictator is trying to keep the branches away from him. The situation could now have serious consequences for the leader of the boat.

(Bild: Screenshot KCNA)

These are images that show the otherwise all-powerful dictator in a slightly different light. While traveling through the floods in his country, dictator Kim Jong Un's boat hits a tree.

That could have gone really wrong: In order to stage himself once again as the great hero of the people, Kim has been driving for days on flooded roads in off-road vehicles or surveying the extent of the natural disaster from a boat.

But this is exactly when the explosive incident occurred. Footage from North Korea shows the dictator on a rubber dinghy traveling through flooded farmland. Kim's boat driver apparently loses control of the vehicle briefly, the boat appears to accelerate and shortly afterwards crashes sideways into a small flooded avenue.

Kim is looking for a pawn in the natural disaster: he himself almost went overboard on the spot.

(Bild: AFP/KCNA VIA KNS/STR)

Dictator was lucky
Much to the horror - and probably anger - of the man in power. He has to duck down to avoid being hit too hard by the hanging branches. However, nothing should have really happened in the incident: only the dictator's hairstyle suffered briefly and he had to smooth it out again straight away. However, the boat was able to continue its journey without any further incidents.

However, Kim does not like the extent of the natural disaster at all. It only became known on Thursday that he was already looking for someone to blame for the heavy rain. According to South Korean media, around 1500 people are said to have already died or gone missing in the floods - there are no official figures from North Korea as yet.

Kim wants to punish the guilty
Kim ordered the authorities to punish those who are said to have neglected their responsibilities. At the same time, he appointed a new minister for public security and a new party leadership for the province affected by the floods. Observers interpret this as a step in a further "purge" with which Kim wants to signal a crackdown to the public.

North Korea is prone to flooding from heavy summer rains due to poor drainage, deforestation and dilapidated infrastructure. According to the KCNA news agency, around 4100 houses, 3000 hectares of agricultural land and numerous public buildings, roads and railroads were flooded in Sinuiju and Uiju.