North Korea says forest fire broke out in Mount Kumgang area over weekend

Local tourists walk on a trail at Mount Geumgang, or the Diamond Mountain, in North Korea in this Oct. 23, 2018, file photo. North Korea said Tuesday a forest fire broke out on the mountain in the eastern Gangwon Province over the weekend. AP-Yonhap

North Korea said Tuesday a forest fire broke out on Mount Geumgang in the eastern Gangwon Province over the weekend, damaging hundreds of hectares of forests and facilities.

The fire started at about 3:20 p.m. Saturday on a hill near Kuryong Pool on Mount Geumgang and the Kosong Port Golf Course in the border county of Kosong, according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

All available firefighters were immediately mobilized, and the fire was extinguished the next day at 11:20 a.m., the KCNA said. It did not elaborate on the exact size of the damaged area.

The North's Cabinet and the State Emergency Disaster Committee took emergency measures to "rehabilitate" the area, with surveillance to prevent another outbreak under way, it added.

"The field of land and environment protection and all institutions and units were ordered to take due measures for establishing a stricter system for monitoring and notifying forest fires and mobilizing the public to prevent it," the KCNA said in an English-language article. (Yonhap)