Typhoon Bavi approaches North Korea, posing another crisis for Kim Jong Un

South Korea’s Meteorological Administration said Wednesday that the storm was already unleashing strong winds and heavy rain over the southern island of Jeju, causing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and ferry services to and from the resort island. As Bavi approached, North Korea’s weather agency said the storm would near Pyongyang early Thursday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told a ruling party meeting Tuesday to brace for damage, particularly to the country’s agricultural sector. State media quoted Kim as saying that mitigating the typhoon’s impact is “important work which can never be neglected even for a moment for our party, bearing the responsibility for the destiny of the people.”

Typhoons regularly menace the Western Pacific at this time of year. Bavi is expected to deal another blow to North Korea’s ailing economy, already hit by international sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile tests. In addition, the coronavirus outbreak this year led the isolated country to further restrict trade with neighboring China.

Heavy rainfall earlier this month damaged some 100,000 acres of farmland and more than 16,000 houses in North Korea, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service told parliament last week that this summer’s downpours “caused the most serious damage” to the country since Kim came to power. The areas hit hardest were North Korea’s southern provinces, home to the most important farming areas.

The floods’ impact on agricultural production raised concerns about the country’s food insecurity. United Nations spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told a briefing earlier this month that the U.N. team is in contact with authorities to provide flood support to North Korea.

At Tuesday’s meeting, which was reported by the KCNA on Wednesday, Kim also urged officials to ramp up the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, acknowledging shortcomings in the regime’s handling of the crisis to date.

“The meeting seriously assessed some defects in the state emergency anti-epidemic work for checking the inroads of the malignant virus, and studied measures to overcome the defects urgently,” the report said.

Although Pyongyang has not acknowledged any confirmed cases of coronavirus infection, it has put thousands of people under quarantine and locked down the border city of Kaesong last month, citing a suspected case.

Tuesday’s meeting of the Politburo of the ruling Workers Party came less than a week after Kim, in an unusually candid move, admitted the failure of his ambitious five-year economic plan.

At another party meeting Aug. 19, the party’s Central Committee acknowledged that its long-term economic goals have been “seriously delayed” because of “unexpected and inevitable challenges,” the KCNA reported. South Korea’s spy agency said the North’s economy is expected to shrink this year if trends continue. Security analysts say the domestic problems piling up in North Korea will prompt Kim to shift his attention to domestic issues rather than to provocations against South Korea and the United States.

“The recent flurry of party meetings show Kim’s resolve to work out the unprecedented internal challenges posed by the coronavirus and flood damages,” said Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.