North Korea Discloses Apartment Collapse in Pyongyang

North Korea is not known for disclosing information that could potentially make its government look bad. However, this Sunday, it disclosed that an apartment building in its capital collapsed from poor construction. The building was supposedly still under construction when it collapsed, but the Washington Post article said that this was a common practice in North Korea- for households to move in before the building was finished.

The last time the North Korean media admitted anything besides its governments' headship and indomitably was in April 2012 after a "botched satellite launch." This time, it came with poor timing as North Korea had been shaming South Korea for its response to the ferry that sunk, leaving "more than 300 people dead or missing".

The apartment building was thought to have 92 households in it, which would bring the death toll up to the triple digits. The blame is being laid mainly on North Korea's minister of people's security, Choe Pu II. "Choe's crime against the people 'can never be pardoned,'" according to the North Korean news. Meanwhile, the country's leader is said to have "sat up all night" feeling pain after learning about  the accident.

The full article can be found here.

Katie Madel