N. Korea silent over possible flood damage

By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) -- Heavy rains hit Pyongyang and North Korea's northern
region over the weekend, raising concerns of recurring casualties and damage to
farms, but it is difficult for outsiders to assess the losses yet, Seoul
officials said Monday.
The North's state media said Pyongyang had 233 millimeters of rain over the span
of 18 hours. Yodok in South Hamgyong Province, a northern mountainous county
infamous for a political prisoners' camp there, had 287mm, it said. There was no
mention of flood damage.
"As of now, there have been reports on the amounts of rainfall, but none about
any damage caused as a result. It is difficult to find out if there is any flood
damage in the North" in the absence of North Korean media reports, Unification
Minister Chun Hae-sung said in a briefing.
Officials in Seoul forecast that this year's damage so far may not be as severe
as that which followed heavy rains in the country in 2006 or 2007. Since this
year's monsoon season began on the peninsula on June 20, the rain has fallen
intermittently and at irregular locations in North Korea, possibly lessening its
impact, they said. Rainfall started in the South and moved northward.
"In 2007, the rain fell for over 10 days, and it came constantly, with
precipitation of up to 700 millimeters. It's different now," a ministry official
said, asking to remain anonymous.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration in Seoul, Pyongyang had
453mm of rain over the past three weeks, while the Pyonggang county in southern
Kangwon Province had 643.5mm, and Kaesong, just north of the inter-Korean border,
358.7mm. Northern towns of Huichon in Jagang Province and Hamghung in South
Hamgyong Province had 399.1mm and 219.3mm, respectively.
Kwon Tae-jin, an analyst with the state-run Korea Rural Economic Institute in
Seoul, said the downpours in Pyongyang over the weekend "must have been difficult
to handle," but there would have been far greater damage had the rain hit the
country's central region, where the headwaters of the Taedong River and the Imjin
River that flow westward originate.
"Heavy rains there (in the headwaters) directly affect the western region where
70 percent of North Korean farmlands are located. Rains in Pyongyang may affect
households and facilities, but not much farmland," he said.
Kwon also said North Korea "won't try to hide its flood damage when it occurs at
a time when international aid has already dwindled."
Seasonal floods are common in North Korea where decades of deforestation have
left the country without a natural protection of tree cover.
Unusually mild weather last year allowed North Korea's grain harvest to expand to
4.3 million tons, compared with 4 million tons in 2007, according to South Korean
government data.
Unprecedentedly heavy rainfall in July 2007 left about 500 people dead or missing
and about 900,000 victims of the flood, according to North Korean and U.N.
reports. Flood damage forced North Korea to postpone the second leaders' summit
with South Korea to October from August that year.
After downpours in July 2006, 844 people were reported dead or missing, and
28,000 households were affected. No flood casualties were reported last year.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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