SEOUL 12 sept (Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected reconstruction work in a flood-hit area, state media KCNA reported on Saturday, following a series of typhoons and the wettest monsoon that battered several parts of the country.

Kim said the North Korean economy “has faced trouble and distress at the great damage caused by the recent series of heavy rain and typhoons,” according to KCNA. Kim expressed satisfaction on the progress of the reconstruction in Taechong-ri, a village in North Hwanghae province, the report said.

After surveying typhoon damage earlier this week in his impoverished country, Kim told Workers’ Party loyalists they would have to rethink plans for an economy already hobbled by sanctions and more recently restrictions designed to contain the novel coronavirus.

Reporting by Joori Roh; editing by Grant McCool