SEOUL
North Korea’s leadership apologized Sunday for the "unimaginable" collapse of a 23-story apartment in Pyongyang last week, which claimed the lives of an unspecified number of victims.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) revealed that the accident occurred in the Pyongchon District of the country’s capital May 13.
"The construction of an apartment house was not done properly, and officials supervised and controlled it in an irresponsible manner," according to the KCNA.
The agency added that an official rescue operation was underway and that state officials had met citizens in a gesture of "deep consolation and apology."
The country’s state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper published an image Sunday showing a North Korean official bowing in apology at the site of the accident.
The KCNA also claimed in an English-language report that leader Kim Jong-un "sat up all night, feeling painful after being told about the accident."
It added that Kim had "instructed leading officials of the party, state and the army to rush to the scene, putting aside all other affairs, and command [sic] the rescue operation to recover from the damage as early as possible."
Although no death toll was given, an unnamed South Korean official told the country's Yonhap News that he suspected around 92 households may have been living in the apartment at the time.
"In North Korea, it is common that people move into a new apartment even before the construction is completed," he added.
The rare revelation of internal flaws has prompted speculation south of its border that the prompt apology may have been aimed at contrasting the portrayal of a caring leadership with a South Korean government under intense criticism over its failure to manage the aftermath of a ferry disaster last month.
The sinking of the Sewol on April 16 left more than 300 people dead or missing, many of them high school students.
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