North Korea warns of flood damage after tropical storm drenches South

SEOUL - Heavy downpours continued to soak South and North Korea on Friday as tropical storm Khanun swept over the peninsula after lashing Japan, putting Pyongyang on high alert for flood damage.

The storm weakened into a tropical depression as it crossed into North Korea overnight, and military and ruling party officials were mobilised to minimise its impact on the country’s fragile economy.

In some parts of South Korea, cumulative rainfall topped 40cm since Thursday, with maximum wind speeds of 126kmh, flooding villages, schools and roads.

Almost 16,000 people were evacuated and 60 per cent of them had returned home as at 6am local time on Thursday. About 350 flights and 450 train routes were cancelled, said the Interior Ministry.

One person was missing in the south-eastern city of Daegu after falling into a river in a wheelchair and another person was reported dead in the same city, but the ministry said neither case was directly linked to the storm.

The 37,000 young people

participating in the World Scout Jamboree,

who moved out of the campsite over typhoon concerns on Tuesday, are scheduled to wrap up their trip with a K-pop concert on Friday.

“We need to prepare measures to quickly and sufficiently provide support to people affected by the typhoon and meticulous support to minimise inconvenience for evacuated residents,” President Yoon Suk-yeol told officials.

With a lack of infrastructure and deforestation exacerbating flood risks, North Korea has been scrambling to head off damage and salvage crops.

The Rodong Sinmun, the ruling Workers’ Party’s mouthpiece, reported on Friday that officials were ordered to implement a round-the-clock disaster emergency response system and devise evacuation plans.

It published photos of officials in raincoats inspecting ports and rivers and farmers preparing fields. “We must make utmost efforts to protect farmlands and crops from the impact of typhoons,” it said. REUTERS