North Korea: Emergency aid considered after floods kill 200

North Korea’s neighbours and international aid agencies today tried to help the impoverished country cope with floods that have decimated large swaths of farmland, endangering citizens already struggling with food shortages.

The North Korean government granted the World Food Programme permission to send four emergency assessment teams tomorrow to areas struck by the disaster spawned by a week of heavy storms, providing a wider independent assessment of the damage.

North Korea’s state media said today that some 46,580 homes had been flooded or destroyed, displacing more than 300,000 people.

North Korean officials earlier told international aid agencies that at least 200 people were dead or missing.

In the showcase capital of Pyongyang, where only the most loyal citizens are allowed to live in what is a relatively privileged life, the official Korean Central News Agency reported today that floods “claimed the lives of several people,” without giving further details.

The series of unusually detailed official reports on the disaster were viewed as a public cry for help from the government.