RED CROSS HELPS NORTH KOREA DEAL WITH COVID-19 AND FLOODS

▶ Pyongyang has not confirmed any coronavirus cases but put the city of Kaesong in lockdown

The Red Cross trained more than 43,000 volunteers in North Korea to help communities, including in the locked-down city of Kaesong, to fight the coronavirus and provide flood assistance, an official with the relief organisation said yesterday.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared an emergency last month and imposed a lockdown on Kaesong, near the border with South Korea, after a man who defected to the South in 2017 returned to the city showing coronavirus symptoms.

Heavy rain and flooding in recent days also sparked concern about crop damage and food supplies in the isolated country.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies built an extensive network of North Korean volunteers to help residents in all nine provinces to avoid the virus and reduce damage from floods and landslides, spokesman Antony Balmain said.

“Hundreds of homes have been damaged and large areas of rice fields have been submerged due to heavy rain and some flash flooding,” Mr Balmain said.

Rainfall levels in the North this month were higher than in 2007, when the country suffered its worst floods, a spokesman at Seoul’s Unification Ministry said.

In Kaesong, which was grappling with both the lockdown and floods, IFRC volunteers were providing 2,100 families most at risk with relief items including tarpaulins, kitchen sets, quilts, hygiene kits and water containers.

“Families are being supported with psychological first aid and awareness activities to maintain hygiene and stay healthy,” Mr Balmain said.

Mr Kim also sent special aid packages to Kaesong, and state media reported yesterday that grain supplies from Pyongyang had arrived in another flood-ravaged county he visited last week.

North Korea has not confirmed any coronavirus cases but has enforced strict quarantine measures. South Korea said there was no evidence the returning defector was infected.

The IFRC last month provided North Korea with kits designed to run up to 10,000 coronavirus tests, alongside infrared thermometers, surgical masks, gowns and protective gear.

In South Korea, at least 30 people have died after 49 days of monsoon rains, the country’s longest since 1987, caused flooding, landslides and evacuations.

The flooding left dozens of cows stranded on rooftops in the southern farming town of Gurye yesterday. The cattle floated upwards and scrambled to safety on the roofs of several houses and other buildings.

When the deluge receded, the animals found themselves stranded with no way to get down. Rescuers brought in a crane and sling and lowered the cattle one by one from the rooftops.