Heavy floods have hit North Korea, although it is unclear how severe the situation due to the lack of reliable information from the isolated country, DPA reported.
Pyongyang has not responded to South Korea's offers to help deal with the disaster, the Ministry of National Unification in Seoul said today. A spokeswoman said all attempts to communicate through the liaison office between the two sides had failed.
Flooding in North Korea has caused heavy damage in the northwest of the country over the past few days. According to the state news agency CCTA, more than 4,000 households in the border city of Xinyizhou, near China, were affected and almost 3,000 square meters of arable land was damaged. KCTA did not provide any information about possible victims.
South Korean TV "Choson" however, reported up to 1,500 dead in North Korea, citing anonymous government sources.
Yesterday, the South Korean government hinted at the possibility of sending urgently needed aid to North Korea through the Red Cross, but has yet to receive a response.
The proposal is a rare case of communication between the two countries undertaken by conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol.