According to South Korean media, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered the execution of up to 30 officials for their alleged failures to prevent massive floods and landslides that killed 4,000 people in the summer.

TV Chosun reported that an official in Kim’s regime stated between 20 and 30 North Korean leaders had been accused of corruption and dereliction, and the state sentenced them to death.

The official said that the execution of 20-30 cadres was carried out at the same moment in late-October.

Independent outlets did not verify immediately the reports of the executions.

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North Korean Central News Agency reported previously that Kim had ordered authorities to “strictly” punish the officials following catastrophic flooding in Chagang Province, which claimed about 4,000 people’s lives and forced more than 15,000 others from their homes.

The names of the officials executed are not known, but according to the report, Kang Bong Hoon, who has been the secretary of the provincial party committee in Chagang Province since 2019 was one the leaders Kim dismissed during an emergency meeting held after the flood disaster.

After the meeting with Kim the former North Korean diplomat Lee Ilgyu said to TV Chosun it was obvious that officials were “so anxious they didn’t know when [their] necks would fall off.”

Kim was spotted last month surveying damaged areas and meeting residents. He estimated it would take several months to rebuild flooded neighborhoods.

North Korea’s leader has also attacked South Korean reports about the death toll and denied the claims that thousands of people were killed.

This is not the first report that Kim ordered officials to be killed over perceived failures.

Kim Hyok Chol was allegedly executed in 2019 by the state for not negotiating a summit between Kim Jong Un and the then US President Donald Trump.

CNN reported that Chol had been placed in state custody.

According to The Korea Times, North Korea has a very high rate of executions in public, with an average of ten public executions per year before the COVID-19 epidemic.

According to the outlet, this rate has risen dramatically in recent years. At least 100 executions were recorded last year.