SEOUL, Aug 22, 2007 (AFP) - North Korea's most powerful organisation has taken charge of flood recovery efforts, state media said Wednesday, in a sign of the seriousness of the devastation.
The National Defence Commission (NDC), chaired by state leader Kim Jong-Il, is supervising relief operations, Radio Pyongyang reported.
"We've achieved recovery and restoration by appealing to party, government and labour officials to go out to damaged areas under the guidance of the National Defence Commission," Kim Kyong-san, a senior official of the Pyongyang railway bureau, told the radio.
The broadcast was monitored by Yonhap news agency.
Analaysts told Yonhap the communist nation's cabinet has usually spearheaded flood relief in the past. They said the NDC's involvement signifies the extent of the damage and is meant to speed up restoration before an inter-Korean summit rescheduled for early October in Pyongyang.
The reclusive communist state has reported about 300 people dead or missing after torrential rains earlier this month, 300,000 homeless and 11 percent of the grain harvest -- equivalent to 450,000 tons -- lost.
It says factories, mines, roads and railways have been damaged or destroyed across six provinces.
The United Nations' World Food Programme Tuesday announced a three-month programme to feed 215,000 flood victims and the UN's humanitarian coordination office said it was preparing a special appeal for funds.
The WFP said the North would allow its staff to monitor distribution -- an apparent sign of the pressing need for relief after what were the heaviest rains for 40 years in some places.
The normally secretive state has released unusually detailed accounts of the destruction.
Numerous countries, including neighbour South Korea, have offered or begun to provide aid. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Monday launched a global appeal for 5.5 million dollars.
South Korea, which is already providing 400,000 tons of rice to the North this year, plans to send flood relief goods worth 7.5 million dollars.
On Tuesday the North asked it for construction materials and heavy equipment. Seoul is considering what to offer.
The summit scheduled for this month has been postponed till October 2-4, with President Roh Moo-Hyun planning to drive rather than fly to Pyongyang. South Korean officials have expressed hope that a damaged expressway to the capital will be restored before then.
sm/mc AFP 220335 GMT 08 07
Copyright (c) 2007 Agence France-Presse
Received by NewsEdge Insight: 08/21/2007 23:39:04