Rain leaves trail of destruction in North Korea

At least South Korea has a functioning disaster relief system whose shortcomings have already been vigorously criticized. It's doubtful that we'll ever get an account of what's going on in North Korea. From Terra Daily via AFP: Heavy rains that left 59 people dead in South Korea last week also affected the North, flooding farmland, destroying bridges and damaging roads and railways, Pyongyang's state media reported Sunday.

Korean Central Television and Korean Central Broadcasting Station said Chongdan County in South Hwanghae province had received 522 millimetres (more than 20 inches) of rain in 12 hours on Tuesday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

More than 14,200 hectares (35,000 acres) of farmland in the county were flooded along with a further 10,200 hectares in Yonan County, both in the west of the country, northwest of Seoul, it said. It said that other counties were suffered heavy rain over the weekend, and that in Yonan alone, 13 bridges were destroyed, while roads and railways across the province were also damaged.

There was no word on casualties. The floods will deepen concerns about North Korea's ability to feed its people, who already face severe food shortages....