hankyoreh

North Korea is intensifying efforts to recover from recent flood damage, the North's state media reported Monday, as heavy rains have relented since last week.

Devastating floods are believed to have destroyed 11 percent of the North's farmland, and the number of dead and missing is estimated to reach more than 300, with the homeless numbering about 300,000. An estimated 46,580 homes of 88,400 families were destroyed or damaged, according to the North's media.

According to reports, North Korea is focusing on restoring production, power supply, communications and other facilities as well as roads, with its government and other national agencies engaged in rehabilitation work.

"Officials in the ministries and national institutions are taking positive measures to heal the flood damage in various parts of Pyongyang," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said, noting the country's authorities are providing emergency medicine and bare necessities to flood victims.

North Korea's Finance Ministry officials delivered 80 types of some 20,000 relief goods to those displaced. "Relief goods from ministries include clothing, shoes, kitchenware and other necessities," the KCNA reported.

The severe flood damage caused the two Koreas to postpone their second-ever summit, originally scheduled to be held late this month, until early October. President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il are to meet from Oct. 2-4 in Pyongyang.

South Korea plans to send 7.1 billion won (US$7.5 million) worth of relief goods to North Korea, while international agencies and institutions also promised to make donations to the communist country.
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Yonhap News)