Kim Jong Un at politburo on flooding and virus

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un highlighted the plight of people suffering from flood damage at a major party meeting on Thursday, state media reported early Friday.

During the ruling party meeting he also insisted the North will keep its borders shut and rejected any outside help as the country carries out an aggressive anti-virus campaign and rebuilds thousands of houses, roads and bridges damaged by heavy rain and floods in recent weeks.

The polituburo also announced the lifting of the lockdown on a major city near the border with South Korea where thousands had been quarantined for weeks over coronavirus worries, state media said.

In late July, Kim ordered a total lockdown of Kaesong and had the nation shift into a “maximum emergency system” after the North claimed of finding a person with COVID-19 symptoms.

During the meeting, Kim said it was clear after three weeks that the virus situation in Kaesong was stable and expressed gratitude to residents for cooperating with the lockdown, Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

Apart from that one case, North Korea has so far claimed there has been no other COVID-19 cases in the country.

Korean Central News Agency also said Kim replaced Kim Jae Ryong as Cabinet premier following an evaluation of the Cabinet’s performance in economic affairs and appointed Kim Tok Hun as his successor.