Thousands likely displaced by rains, floods in North Korea: Report

By Anadolu staff

Thousands of people have likely been displaced by rains and floods in North Korea, local media reported on Thursday.

Satellite images showed that an entire village of Kwangmyong-ri near the Chinese border was wiped out, according to the North Korea-focused NK News website.

“The major flooding in the mountainous Jagang and Ryanggang provinces along the Chinese border has likely displaced thousands of people and caused deaths,” it said.

On Monday North Korean state-run media said that their leader Kim Jong Un inspected the rescue operation launched over the weekend to evacuate around 5,000 residents.

Kim visited flood-hit areas in the Sinuiju city and Uiju county in the North Pyongan province bordering China. The region had witnessed record downpours over the weekend as the water level in the Amnok River far exceeded the danger line.

On Thursday, South Korea also offered humanitarian aid to North Korea and the country's Red Cross said it is willing to urgently support the North Korean flood victims with the necessary supplies from a humanitarian and fraternal perspective.

"We are ready to discuss the items, scale and method of support with our North Korean counterpart. We expect North Korea's swift response," Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported citing the Red Cross statement.

South Korean Unification Ministry claimed that around 1,000 people are believed to have died or missing.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid