Despite reliable news of flooding hitting every region of North Korea, Finn Jarle Rode, the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) programme coordinator in Pyongyang, has told a Voice of America radio show that North Korea did not experience much damage from July’s unusually fierce rains, a statement which has caused consternation.
Finn, who is in charge of disaster management in concert with the North Korean Red Cross, stated in the interview broadcast on the 18th that in mid-July, the beginning of the monsoon season, higher than average rainfall came down on the country, but the IFRC has received news from field staff that the extent of the damage was not significant.
However, both North Korean domestic sources and even the state-owned media relayed information about substantial flood damage in July, raising doubts about whether the IFRC office has been playing its role acceptably.
For example, Chosun Central Broadcast, the North Korean state-owned radio broadcaster, told listeners on the 17th, “The downpour which fell in the middle of last month caused significant damage in Yangdepk, South Pyongan Province.” The broadcast did not discuss the scale of the damage, but reported, “Torrential downpours fell on several regions, including Pyongyang, Yoduk in South Hamkyung Province and Maengsan in South Pyongan Province.”
North Korea Intellectuals’ Solidarity (NKIS) cited an inside North Korean source on the 13th, relaying news that the torrent which came down on Gosan and Hoiyang, Kangwon Province in July caused significant damage, including a number of human casualties.
The NKIS explained, “Due to a landslide which occurred in the middle of the night in the village of Imgye-ri in Gosan, 20 civilians and six soldiers providing disaster relief lost their lives and 60% of persimmon tree fields were buried.”
Furthermore, on the 11th of last month, a downpour which struck Hyesan resulted in widespread damage, reportedly including the deaths of 34 civilians as well as the loss of 41 single-story residential homes.
However, despite the easy availability of such details regarding flood incidents, Finn, who is nominally in charge of disaster management in the North, has denied the existence of significant damage. This begs the question: is the International Red Cross’ Pyongyang office carefully monitoring the internal situation in North Korea? The possibility of the Pyongyang office making assessments based on information fed to them by North Korean officials and the passive acceptance of stifling official regulations by the International Red Cross’ Pyongyang staff is a big cause for concern.
Incidents which call into question the ability of the few international organization personnel who are currently residing in Pyongyang to gather information and make sound judgments are occurring with disturbing regularity. The concern is that unless they secure the right and ability to assess potential disaster situations in non-crisis times, tragic results may ensue.
