North Korea in need of food aid due to flooding and drought

North Korea requires immediate food assistance after heavy rains killed scores of people and submerged vast swaths of farmland, a U.N. office said Thursday.

Floods caused by two storm systems last month killed at least 119 people and left tens of thousands homeless, according to the North’s state media. A city official told AP that it was the worst disaster in Anju’s history.

The flooding, which occurred on the heels of a severe drought, renewed concerns about North Korea’s ability to feed its people.

In June, the U.N. said two-thirds of the country’s 24 million people are coping with chronic food shortages.

North Korean officials are asking for food, fuel, medicine, water and purification supplies, while farmers are requesting seeds and fertilizer for the next season, the U.N. said.