N Koreans homeless after floods

N Korea has been reliant on aid for more than a decade

About 60,000 people have been left homeless by recent flooding in North Korea, according to the UN food agency.

The floods have also destroyed 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of farmland, causing the loss of 100,000 tonnes of food, the World Food Programme said.

On Friday North Korea's official media admitted that "hundreds of people" were thought to be dead or missing after last week's torrential rain.

The North already relies on outside aid to support its impoverished people.

Food aid from neighbouring South Korea is currently suspended after talks between the two sides collapsed last week, in the wake of Pyongyang's 5 July missile tests.

South Korea has also been hit by the seasonal storms, with around 60 people dead or missing after last week's rains.

Vulnerable population

The World Food Programme said it would initially help 13,000 people in the worst-hit region of South Pyongan, providing 74 tonnes of food.

According to the agency, the government is still trying to assess the situation, but "overall, the updates indicate rising levels of damage".

North Korea has relied for more than a decade on foreign donations to feed its people.

The WFP began working in the country in the mid 1990s, after about two million people died from famine.

According to the most recent large-scale survey in October 2004, the WFP found that 37% of young children were chronically malnourished, and one-third of mothers were malnourished and anaemic.