Collapse of high-rise in elite area of Pyongyang prompts unprecedented apology from regime

Special to WorldTribune.com

SEOUL — Hundreds of North Koreans were believed killed in the recent collapse of a 26-story apartment building in central Pyongyang.

A North Korean official bows in apology to citizens over an apartment building collapse at a construction site in Pyongyang. /EPA

The incident could deal a blow to Kim Jong-Un’s fledgling leadership, government officials and sources here say.

The North’s state-run media said the accident occurred in the capital’s central Pyongchon District on May 13 as “the construction of an apartment house was not done properly, and officials supervised and controlled it in an irresponsible manner.”

A “state emergency mechanism” was formed to rescue survivors and treat the wounded, and senior officials met with bereaved families and citizens in the district to express “deep consolation and (issue an) apology,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said on May 18.

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Collapse of High-rise in elite area of Pyongyang prompts unprecedented apology from regime, Kim Jong-Un, Pyongchon District

Collapse of high-rise in elite area of Pyongyang prompts unprecedented apology from regime added by World Tribune on May 29, 2014
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