SEOUL, South Korea — When North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, visited a hydroelectric dam under construction last month, he reportedly “flew into a rage” after learning why the dam was still unfinished after 17 years of work.

The dam, central to Mr. Kim’s efforts to alleviate his country’s chronic power shortages, suffered from a lack of workers, equipment and materials, Mr. Kim is said to have found, and he learned that officials overseeing the project hadn’t even visited the construction site.

“What makes me angrier is that these officials will never fail to miss the opportunity to show their shameless faces and take credit when a ceremony is held to mark the completion of a power plant,” Mr. Kim was quoted by the North’s Korean Central News Agency as saying. “I am speechless.”

The reports in the North Korean state news media about Mr. Kim’s anger were a jarring contrast to their typical portrayals of such visits, which show Mr. Kim being mobbed by his adoring subjects.