hankyoreh

By Jeong Nam-ku, Tokyo correspondent
North Korea suffered severe flooding damage in the wake of heavy rains in the second half of July. At least 119 deaths were reported so far, with drinking water supplies cut off for an estimated 50,000 households in the province of South Pyongan. Heavy farmland damage has analysts predicting the country’s food shortage will worsen.
International organizations hurried to begin relief efforts. The United Nations reported on August 2 the findings of an emergency team sent to North Korea on July 31 to examine flooded areas. Japan’s Jiji Press reported Friday that 50,000 households in six areas of heavily hit South Pyongan, including the city of Anju and Songju County, had no access to drinking water due to contamination.
The UN also reported a grave risk of contagion in the afflicted areas. One hospital in Chonnae County, Kangwon province was reported as having four times the average number of diarrhea cases.
Heavy rains fell on North Korea between July 18 and 24 as the season‘s seventh typhoon passed through, leaving 88 dead. Additional rainfall measuring up to 400mm fell on the country’s west coast and parts of its East Sea coast on July 29 and 30, claiming another 31 lives and leaving 16 unaccounted for, the Korean Central News Agency reported. More than 80,000 people are believed to have lost their home in the most recent flooding.
Severe farmland flooding is expected to add to the country’s current food shortage. More than 45,000 hectares of farmland were reported lost or inundated.
“Ninety percent of the rice paddies are underwater, and the fall harvest is going to be much smaller,” a Nampo farm worker told the KCNA. The flooding comes on the heels of severe damage from the biggest drought in sixty years for parts of the country’s southwest, including the province of South Hwanghae, which prevented proper planting.
The international community is moving quickly to provide aid. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) earmarked a special budget of US$300,000 to aid residents of the flooded regions. A UN official said North Korea was hoping for food aid as soon as possible.
Last month, the UN reported that two-thirds of North Korea’s 24 million people were at risk of chronic food deficiency.

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