N. Korea ramps up efforts to minimize damage from heavy rains

North Korean Premier Kim Tok-hun, center, inspects a farm in South Hwanghae Province amid the monsoon season in this July 17 photo carried by North Korea's Central News Agency. Yonhap

North Korea has ramped up efforts to minimize damage to crops from the monsoon season, with its premier inspecting farms in several counties to call attention to grain protection, state media said Monday.

Kim Tok-hun called for "scientifically" managing crops and mobilizing all means for weeding during his latest visits to farms in some regions, including South Hwanghae Province and South Pyongan Province, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

He instructed officials to better manage drainage facilities and seawalls with "responsibility" to brace for abnormal weather, such as heavy rains and typhoons, it added.

North Korea has put its top priority on crop protection in the face of a food crisis that has been aggravated by its COVID-19-related border closure and global sanctions on its nuclear and missile programs.

Downpours could be devastating to the North, as it is vulnerable to flash flooding due to poor irrigation and deforestation.

South Korea's unification ministry said there has been no known damage from heavy rains in the North and repeated its call on Pyongyang to give prior notice if it releases water from dams near the inter-Korean border.

"We once again request North Korea to take sincere measures to prevent its inaction from causing damage (to border areas)," ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam said in a press briefing.

In October 2009, North Korea agreed to notify the South in advance when it plans to release water from dams, following an accident that killed six South Koreans after the North discharged water from the Hwanggang Dam without notice.

But last year, North Korea released water from the Hwanggang Dam without notifying Seoul, prompting the ministry to voice regret over the North's action. (Yonhap)