(Seoul) North Korea has deployed non-manual workers on farms across the country to prevent heavy crop damage from the ongoing drought, state media said Wednesday.
Posted yesterday at 9:58 pm.
The nuclear-armed country, which is under international sanctions for its banned weapons programs, is suffering from chronic food shortages.
North Korea is particularly vulnerable to natural disasters, including floods and droughts, as well as a lack of infrastructure, deforestation and decades of government abuse.
Rodang SinmunThe official newspaper of the North Korean ruling Workers’ Party said on Wednesday that government officials, employees working in businesses and factories had “joined the fight in drought-prone areas”.
“As soon as they arrived, they started watering and worked with farmers to fight against nature,” the newspaper said.
However, the article does not mention the damage that has occurred so far, but states that these measures are aimed at limiting the effects of the current drought wave and “preventing further possible damage”.
The dry spell is expected to continue throughout the week, citing weather services in the country, according to the official KCNA news agency.
She said light rain was likely on Friday, but it would not help tackle the drought.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called for action to improve the “tense” food situation caused by the pandemic, typhoons and international sanctions.
Since the beginning of 2020, North Korea has isolated itself from the rest of the world to protect itself from the epidemic. It briefly reopened its border with China for freight earlier this year.
Pyongyang said it had not registered any COVID-19 cases on its soil.
North Korea, whose economy and agriculture were in shambles, suffered a devastating drought in the second half of the 1990s after decades of destructive management and resources spilled over into a nuclear program.
Hundreds of thousands of people then died, some estimates suggest millions of victims.
