Pyongyang underreporting flood-related fatalities

The number of fatalities that arose from massive flooding late last month in North Korea have been grossly underreported, with the regime said to be deliberately lowering the figures to evade public criticism of its incompetent and delayed response to the disaster. 
“At the time of the flooding, work stations had been set up near the Tumen River for foreign currency earning companies collecting magnetite dust from the Musan Mine,” a high-ranking official in Pyongyang reported to Daily NK. “The rising water levels from the river swamped entire lodging facilities for the workers that were mobilized to the area.”
He added that hundreds of dugouts were constructed for night patrol agents running along a 2,000 km strip. All of these were swept up in strong currents, leading to the almost certain death of hundreds of soldiers overnight, with greater numbers missing. Overall, “the flooding has left thousands of residents and soldiers dead,” the source asserted. 
This information was corroborated by additional sources in the capital and in North Hamgyong Province.
These numbers are in stark contrast to North Korean government figures cited by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid [OCHA] in a report issued on September 11. In this report, the UN body noted that the North Korean government had confirmed 133 deaths, some 400 missing and more than 100,000 displaced. 
“A central government agency has tallied actual numbers in relation to the flooding, but the reported fatalities are limited to residents in a specific area,” the source added. “They’ve ordered people to remain silent on the number of deaths of soldiers, families, and workers from other regions.” 
Another motive for the regime to keep a tight lid on the numbers is due to central orders being handed down after forecasts of heavy rain in the northeastern region began to surface. Following government orders, water from the Wonbong and Mayang reservoirs were released into the Tumen River, exacerbating the flooding. For this reason, the disaster in some areas is being seen as more man-made than natural.  
   
The Wonbong reservoir is a wide man-made lake created by blocking off the Sodu tributary from the Tumen River, and water can be released when levels rise excessively. Prior to the disaster, orders were handed down out of concern that the nearby Sodu power plant could be flooded, but the additional water released into the Tumen River is likely to have exacerbated flooding in neighborhoods downstream.
“Water levels surged to 15 meters without warning, sweeping first through Musan County and then Hoeryong, and Onsong County,” the source reported. “This completely erased some 60 towns without a trace and swallowed up guard posts and barracks near the Tumen River as well as the military homes of officers.” 
The source surmised that Pyongyang is exaggerating the external damage to collapsed homes and losses from landslides in order to attract more international aid, but (as is common practice) is simultaneously misreporting a disproportionately low number of victims. “The regime is aware that that the reservoirs were discharged without any planning and that absolutely no countermeasures were in place, so it doesn’t want to attract any blame,” he concluded.