Kim Jong Un’s weekend “open letter” call for help to respond to damage caused by recent typhoons hits two birds with one stone: It not only aids reconstruction efforts – at a considerable discount – but also serves as a political call to rally the people around the leadership.

Since it is backed by Kim’s personal authority, the letter is a litmus test for the loyalty of ruling party members in the capital. Failure to demonstrate one’s total desire to answer the leader’s call to come to the aid of flood-hit regions in the northeast