North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has condemned South Korean media outlets for “fabricating” the scale of damage from recent floods in his country, state media said Saturday, in his first public reaction to the South over the downpours, Report informs via Yonhap.

The North’s border city of Sinuiju and Uiju County in North Phyongan Province were recently pummeled by heavy rains. South Korean media outlets have reported that the number of those who died or went missing could exceed about 1,000.

Kim said that South Korea’s “garbage” media outlets have spread “fabricated” news about the North’s latest flood damage, according to the Korean Central News Agency.