{"id":63353,"date":"2025-05-16T11:40:57","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T02:40:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/?p=63353"},"modified":"2026-04-05T15:53:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T06:53:11","slug":"drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/","title":{"rendered":"Drought alert: N. Korean reservoirs shrink as rice planting season looms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">According to meteorological forecasts, the Korean Peninsula&#8217;s northern regions may experience temporary drought and unseasonably cold temperatures this spring due to La Ni\u00f1a effects. This weather prediction comes at a critical time as North Korea prepares for spring rice planting season. To verify these drought concerns, I examined satellite imagery of key North Korean reservoirs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Based on recent images captured by the European Space Agency&#8217;s Sentinel-2A and 2B satellites, water surface area in eight major North Korean reservoirs has decreased by 13.7% compared to last year. This reduction raises concerns about agricultural water availability for the crucial May rice planting season, which appears less favorable than in previous years.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_63355\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-63355\" style=\"width: 1280px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-63355 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-747x420.png 747w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-696x392.png 696w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1068x601.png 1068w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-63355\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">After measuring the surface area of water in sample reservoirs in North Korea and comparing it with last year&#8217;s data, it was found that the water levels in four reservoirs including those in Pyongyang and Nampo have all decreased this year. (Sentinel-2A\u00b72B)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Comparing satellite images taken in late April of both years, I measured water surface areas of selected sample reservoirs. The Daejung Reservoir in Pyongyang&#8217;s Ryokpo district showed a 23.1% decrease, while the Samhwa Reservoir in Nampo&#8217;s Harbor district decreased by 18.6%. The Pogu Reservoir in Sincheon county, South Hwanghae province, and the Eunpa Reservoir in Unsan county, North Hwanghae province, also showed significant reductions of 16.0% and 18.6% respectively.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_63356\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-63356\" style=\"width: 1280px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63356\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1-747x420.png 747w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1-696x392.png 696w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1-1068x601.png 1068w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-63356\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The reservoir surface areas this spring have all decreased compared to last year in four sample reservoirs in South Pyongan, North Pyongan, Gangwon, and South Hamgyong provinces. (Sentinel-2A\u00b72B)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Additional measurements revealed declining water levels across multiple provinces. The Chamo Reservoir in Pyongsong, South Pyongan province, decreased by 2.2%, while the Saori Reservoir in Gujiang county, North Pyongan province, dropped 19.0%. The most dramatic reduction was observed at the Ani Reservoir in Gosan county, Gangwon province, with a 33.0% decrease. The Saseulmak Reservoir in Gowon county, South Hamgyong province, also showed a substantial 15.6% reduction.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought_TABLE.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-63357 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought_TABLE-e1747101222914.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1037\" height=\"590\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought_TABLE-e1747101222914.png 1037w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought_TABLE-e1747101222914-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought_TABLE-e1747101222914-1024x583.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought_TABLE-e1747101222914-768x437.png 768w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought_TABLE-e1747101222914-738x420.png 738w, https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought_TABLE-e1747101222914-696x396.png 696w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1037px) 100vw, 1037px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">When combining data from all eight sample reservoirs, the analysis indicates an average 13.7% decrease in North Korean reservoir water levels this spring. This stands in contrast to recent satellite analysis showing a 22.3% <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/satellites-show-north-korean-wheat-barley-cultivation-up-22-under-kim-orders\/\">increase<\/a> in wheat and barley cultivation areas, suggesting expanded spring field farming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"whitespace-pre-wrap break-words\">Whether due to climate change or other factors, the reduced water surface areas raise concerns about potential water shortages for rice farming as North Korea enters its crucial transplanting season this spring.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/20250512-3\/\">Read in Korean<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to meteorological forecasts, the Korean Peninsula&#8217;s northern regions may experience temporary drought and unseasonably cold temperatures this spring due to La Ni\u00f1a effects. This weather prediction comes at a critical time as North Korea prepares for spring rice planting season. To verify these drought concerns, I examined satellite imagery of key North Korean reservoirs. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":63356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[644],"tags":[123,696,745,794,924,1096,1098,1199,1405,1425,3236],"class_list":["post-63353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-analysis-and-opinion","tag-farming","tag-north-pyongan-province","tag-south-hamgyong-province","tag-south-pyongan-province","tag-north-hwanghae-province","tag-south-hwanghae-province","tag-pyongsong","tag-nampo","tag-satellite-imagery","tag-satellite","tag-bruce-songhak-chung-columns"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.7 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Drought alert: N. Korean reservoirs shrink as rice planting season looms - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Korean Peninsula&#039;s northern regions may experience drought and unseasonably cold temperatures this spring due to La Ni\u00f1a effects.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Drought alert: N. 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Part of the Unification Media Group (UMG) consortium.\",\"email\":\"dailynkenglish@uni-media.net\",\"telephone\":\"82-2-732-6998\",\"legalName\":\"DailyNK\",\"foundingDate\":\"2004-12-01\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"1\",\"maxValue\":\"10\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c339cc714b61bed249d80fbba0476a11\",\"name\":\"Bruce Songhak Chung\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/bruce-s-chung-profile-picture-daily-nk-e1776758604448-150x150.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/bruce-s-chung-profile-picture-daily-nk-e1776758604448-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/bruce-s-chung-profile-picture-daily-nk-e1776758604448-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Bruce Songhak Chung\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Bruce S. Chung previously worked for the Korea Forest Research Institute and the South Korean government\u2019s intelligence agency, and is currently the head of the Satellite Analysis Center at the Korea Institute for Security Strategy. Bruce received his Ph.D. in remote sensing and GIS from the University of Idaho in the United States. He can be reached at chungsh1024@naver.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.dailynk.com\\\/english\\\/author\\\/jungsonghak\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Drought alert: N. Korean reservoirs shrink as rice planting season looms - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","description":"The Korean Peninsula's northern regions may experience drought and unseasonably cold temperatures this spring due to La Ni\u00f1a effects.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Drought alert: N. Korean reservoirs shrink as rice planting season looms","og_description":"The Korean Peninsula's northern regions may experience drought and unseasonably cold temperatures this spring due to La Ni\u00f1a effects.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/","og_site_name":"North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","article_published_time":"2025-05-16T02:40:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-05T06:53:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1-1024x576.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Bruce Songhak Chung","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bruce Songhak Chung","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/"},"author":{"name":"Bruce Songhak Chung","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/c339cc714b61bed249d80fbba0476a11"},"headline":"Drought alert: N. Korean reservoirs shrink as rice planting season looms","datePublished":"2025-05-16T02:40:57+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-05T06:53:11+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/"},"wordCount":420,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1.png","keywords":["farming","north pyongan province","south hamgyong province","south pyongan province","north hwanghae province","south hwanghae province","pyongsong","nampo","satellite imagery","satellite","Bruce Songhak Chung Columns"],"articleSection":["Analysis &amp; Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/","name":"Drought alert: N. Korean reservoirs shrink as rice planting season looms - North Korea News \u2014 Daily NK | Latest DPRK Updates 2026","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1.png","datePublished":"2025-05-16T02:40:57+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-05T06:53:11+00:00","description":"The Korean Peninsula's northern regions may experience drought and unseasonably cold temperatures this spring due to La Ni\u00f1a effects.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/drought-alert-n-korean-reservoirs-shrink-as-rice-planting-season-looms\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/\uc601\ubb38ppt-NKs-reservoir-drought-1.png","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"The reservoir surface areas this spring have all decreased compared to last year in four sample reservoirs in South Pyongan, North Pyongan, Gangwon, and South Hamgyong provinces. 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Part of the Unification Media Group (UMG) consortium.","email":"dailynkenglish@uni-media.net","telephone":"82-2-732-6998","legalName":"DailyNK","foundingDate":"2004-12-01","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"1","maxValue":"10"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/c339cc714b61bed249d80fbba0476a11","name":"Bruce Songhak Chung","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/bruce-s-chung-profile-picture-daily-nk-e1776758604448-150x150.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/bruce-s-chung-profile-picture-daily-nk-e1776758604448-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/bruce-s-chung-profile-picture-daily-nk-e1776758604448-150x150.jpg","caption":"Bruce Songhak Chung"},"description":"Dr. Bruce S. Chung previously worked for the Korea Forest Research Institute and the South Korean government\u2019s intelligence agency, and is currently the head of the Satellite Analysis Center at the Korea Institute for Security Strategy. Bruce received his Ph.D. in remote sensing and GIS from the University of Idaho in the United States. He can be reached at chungsh1024@naver.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/author\/jungsonghak\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63353"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63359,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63353\/revisions\/63359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dailynk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}