North Korea makes rare admission of struggle after flood damage
North Korea told the world on Sunday that floods had devastated northern regions of the country, a rare public admission that the nation is struggling to cope with an internal struggle.
In an English-language update on the website of the country's official state media outlet, the government wrote that the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea had recently sent out a message to "party members, service personnel of the Korean People's Army and other people" to aid in recovery efforts.
Flooding caused by Typhoon Lionrock has so far killed 133 people and at least 395 more are missing, according to numbers published by the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which cited information provided by the North Korean government.
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Flooding from the typhoon began in August.
Around 35,500 homes have been damaged in the flooding, 100,000 people have been displaced, 140,000 are in "urgent need of assistance," and an estimated 600,000 have "been affected by the interruption of water supply systems."
"Tens of thousands of dwelling houses and public buildings collapsed and railways, roads and other traffic networks and power supply system, factories, enterprises and cultivated lands were destroyed or submerged," read the update on the website of the Korean Central News Agency.
North Korea's admission of struggle comes just days after the nation demonstrated military strength.
On Friday, North Korea detonated its second nuclear weapon in a year, the first time it has ever tested two such weapons in such quick succession.
Friday's test itself came on the heels of a missile test just days before.
The North Korean government has since redirected its attention to the flooding. Officials have changed the focus of a 200-day campaign meant to bolster the nation's piddling economy to a campaign "for recovering from the flood damage."
The post on the Korean Central News Agency website also requests that participants in the campaign use a slogan that reads, in part, "Let us achieve the miraculous victory of converting misfortune into favorable conditions."
Colin is Mashable's US & World Reporter. He previously interned at Foreign Policy magazine and The American Prospect. Colin is a graduate from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. When he's not at Mashable, you can most likely find him eating or playing some kind of sport.
