North Korea’s government recently ordered the implementation of robust measures to minimize crop damage during the monsoon season.
“Minimizing the damage caused by catastrophic weather phenomena is a very important matter for all sectors and units of the people’s economy to successfully achieve this year’s targets,” Rodong Sinmun reported on Tuesday. The newspaper also emphasized that “the protection of agricultural land and crops is an extremely important project that is directly related to the achievement of this year’s grain production target proposed by the Workers’ Party.
“Agricultural workers and laborers have always remembered the importance of this project and have already made considerable efforts, but they must never let their guard down,” the newspaper continued, adding, “We must take every possible measure to ensure that there are absolutely no overlooked gaps in the project.”
The newspaper further demanded that “we need to check the condition of the various drainage facilities one by one, reconfirm that there are no gaps, however small, in the previously established flood forecasting system and emergency mobilization system, and ensure their timely operation at any given time.”
In addition to the agricultural sector, the newspaper emphasized preventing monsoon damage in advance. It asked people to identify risk factors and protect resources in various industries such as national environmental protection, urban management, electric power, coal, metal, chemical, construction, and railway transportation.
Due to North Korea’s poor infrastructure, there are almost yearly cases of crop damage caused by natural disasters such as droughts, heavy rain, and typhoons.
North Korea’s current food shortages have been partially caused by the decline in agricultural production due to natural disasters. This has led the government to once again emphasize the importance of damage control with the approach of monsoon season.
In the Tuesday report, Rodong Sinmun included a weather forecast for the monsoon season: “Between July 4 and 10, low pressure troughs are expected to cause lower sunshine hours and frequent rainfall in most regions.”
Translated by Annie Eun Jung Kim. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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