North Korea Flooding Leaves Hundreds Dead

The South Korean government announced its plan to aid Pyongyang after a massive flood.

“We expect the damage to be worse than last year. We will look into possible flood aid if any request from Pyongyang is received,” said Seo Seong-woo, an information analysis official with the Unification Ministry, during a press briefing on Tuesday at the inter-Korean summit headquarters in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul.

“As of August 12 Sunday, there was torrential rain of 460mm in Pyongyang, 662mm in Pyonggang of Gangwon, and 672mm in Bukchang of South Pyeongan Province. We expect they will have additional rain of as much as 200mm by Friday,” he said.

“According to a North Korean government official, highway and railroad links between Gaesong and Pyongyang were not hit by the flooding because they are on a higher ground,” he added.

The North`s official Korean Central News Agency said heavy downpours since August 7 had caused "huge human and material damage."

"According to the preliminary information available from different parts of the country as of Aug. 12, the torrential rain left hundreds of persons dead or missing and destroyed more than 30,000 houses, displacing about 63,300 families," the KCNA said.

myzodan@donga.com