North Korea sets up new ministry in charge of disaster management
Major natural disasters (floods) since 2010
| year | Disaster type/period | Damaged area | Major damage status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | July heavy rain | Chagang, Hamnam, Hwanghae, Pyeongan, Gangwon, etc. | o (Buildings) 5,560 residential units, 350 production and public buildings flooded and destroyed * 673 households in Jagang and 486 households in South Hamgyong completely destroyed o (Farmland) 14,850 acres flooded, buried, or lost * 7,380 acres of farmland flooded in South Hwangnam, Pyeongan, and South Hamgyong regions o (Infrastructure) Flooding and destruction of power industry facilities, railways, embankments, bridges, etc. |
| 7.21-22. | Unsan in North Pyongan Province, Sinheung and Hamheung in South Hamgyong Province | o (farmland) About 1,000 farmland | |
| 8.19.-21. | Sinuiju City and Uiju County | o (Buildings) 7,100 residential buildings (7,750 households), 300 production and public buildings destroyed o (Farmland) 7,200 hectares flooded, buried, or washed away o (Infrastructure) 7,700㎥ of railroad bed, 400m of bridge destroyed, etc. | |
| Early September (Typhoon Kompasu) | All over North Korea | o (Life) Dozens killed o (Buildings) Housing: 8,380 households in 3,300 buildings, 230 production and public buildings destroyed o (Farmland) 35,500 hectares flooded, buried, or washed away o (Infrastructure) 6,200㎡ of railroad bed completely destroyed, 65,980m of railroad damaged, etc. | |
| 2011 | June 25-27 (Typhoon Echo) | All over North Korea | o (Buildings) 160 houses destroyed o (Farmland) 21,000 pieces of land flooded, buried, or lost |
| 7.12.-15. | Hwangnam, Hwangbuk, Hamnam | o (Farmland) △(Hwangnam) 15,000 jeongbo △(Hwangbuk) 5,900 jeongbo flooded | |
| Late June to mid-July Typhoon and heavy rain damage (comprehensive) | All over North Korea | o (Life) Dozens of casualties and missing, 8,000 displaced o (Buildings) 2,900 houses, 170 production and public buildings destroyed o (Farmland) 60,000 pieces of information flooded, buried, or lost o (Infrastructure) 1 high-voltage transmission tower, 300 Jeonju University destroyed, etc. | |
| 8.7-9. (Typhoon Muifa) | All over North Korea | o (Life) 10 casualties o (Buildings) 240 houses, dozens of production and public buildings destroyed o (Farmland) 25,800 pieces of information damaged o (Infrastructure) 10 bridges destroyed | |
| 2012 | June 29–August 20 (4 rounds of heavy rain) (Typhoon Bolaven) | All over North Korea | o (Life) 300 dead, 600 injured or missing, 298,050 displacedo (Buildings) 87,280 housing units, 2,690 production and public buildings, and 350 education and health care buildings flooded and destroyed o (Agricultural land) 123,000 acres flooded, buried, and lost o (Infrastructure) 17,000 square meters of railroad tracks lost, and over 300 landslides damaged |
| 2013 | 7.9.∼11. | Central North Korea | o (Life) 2 deaths, approximately 760 displaced persons o (Buildings) 120 houses (Gangwon), 19 houses (Hwangbuk), and 15 houses (Pyeongnam) flooded o (Farmland) 1,720 in South Hamgyong, North Hwangbuk, and Gangwon |
| 7.13.∼15. | All over North Korea | o (Life) 4 dead, 1 missing o (Building) 180 houses destroyed and flooded o (Farmland) 820 acres flooded in Hwangbuk o (Infrastructure) Roads and bridges in Seongcheon, Yangdeok, Bongsan, etc. | |
| 7.17.∼20. | All over North Korea | o (Life) 5 dead, 3 missing o (Buildings) 6,060 houses destroyed and flooded – 3,120 in North Pyongan Province, 2,800 in South Pyongan Province, etc., 23,770 displaced o (Farmland) Hundreds of acres flooded and buried o (Infrastructure) 6,330m road in Yangdok, South Pyongan Province | |
| 7.20.∼22. | All over North Korea | o (Life) 8 deaths o (Buildings) 4,500 houses, 30 educational facilities, 15 health facilities destroyed/flooded * 1,000 buildings destroyed in North Pyongan Province, 2,300 buildings flooded in Unsan County o (Farmland) 6,550 acres flooded in Pyongan | |
| 2015 | 8.4.∼5. | South Hwanghae Province | o (Life) About 10 casualtieso (Buildings) Damage to hundreds of households o (Agricultural land) Flooding and loss of over 1,000 pieces of information o (Infrastructure) Destroyed coastal seawalls, flooded roads, railways, and bridges |
| August 22-23 (Heavy rain, Typhoon Gona) | Spiral poem | o (Life) 40 deaths, 11,000 displaced persons o (Buildings) 1,070 houses, 5,240 households, 99 public buildings destroyed o (Farmland) 125 jeongbo completely flooded o (Infrastructure) 51 locations including railroad bridges destroyed | |
| 2016 | 7.22. ~24. (heavy rain, landslide) | Pyeongnam, Pyeongbuk (landslide in Deokryong area of Uiju) | o (Life) 10 dead, 4 missing, 55 injured o (Buildings) 246 households in 109 buildings destroyed and flooded o (Infrastructure) 8 railroads (760m), 10 roads, and 2 bridges completely or partially destroyed |
| 8.29. ~9.2.(Typhoon Lionrock, heavy rain) | North Hamgyong Province (Tumen River Basin) | o (Life) Hundreds of casualties, 68,900 displaced persons o (Buildings) 29,800 houses flooded (11,600 completely destroyed), 900 production and public buildings destroyed or damaged o (Farmland) 27,400 acres lost or buried o (Infrastructure) 180 roads, 60 bridges destroyed, 100 railways covered in mud and roadbed washed away | |
| 2019 | 9.2.~8. (Typhoon Lingling) | All over North Korea | o (Life) 5 dead, 3 injured o (Buildings) 460 households in 210 buildings, 15 public buildings flooded and destroyed o (Farmland) 46,200 pieces of land flooded and buried |
| 2020 | Late July to early August (heavy rain) | Eunpa County, Hwangbuk | o (Buildings) 730 houses flooded, 179 collapsed o (Farmland) 600 acres flooded |
| Late July to early August (heavy rain) | Gangwon-do, Hwanghae-do, All of North Korea, including Kaesong City | o (Buildings) 16,680 residential units, 630 public buildings destroyed or flooded o (Farmland) 39,296 information | |
| 9.2.~3. (Typhoon Maysak) | Gangwon-do, including Wonsan-si | o (Life) Dozens of casualties | |
| 9.2.~3. (Typhoon Maysak) | South Hamgyong Province, North Hamgyong Province | o (Building) About 1,000 houses each in South Hamgyong and North Hamgyong were destroyed. | |
| 9.2.~3. (Typhoon Maysak) | Geomdeok District, South Hamgyong Province | o (Building) 2,000 houses destroyed * Estimated to include 1,000 houses destroyed in South Hamgyong Province reported on 9.6 | |
| 2021 | 8.1.~3. | South Hamgyong Province(Sinheung County, Hamheung City, etc.) | o (Buildings) 1,170 houses destroyed and flooded o (Farmland) Hundreds of farmland buried, flooded, and washed away o (Infrastructure) 16,900m of roads and 8,100m of river and stream embankments destroyed |
| 2023 | August 10-11 (Typhoon Kanun) | Farms in the Ogye-ri area of Anbyeon-gun, Gangwon-do | o (Farmland) Flooding of approximately 200 sq. m o (Infrastructure) Collapse of river and stream embankments |
| Unknown | Anseok tidal flat near Oncheon-gun , Nampo-si | o (Agricultural land) 560 tidal flats flooded (including 270 agricultural lands) | |
| 2024 | 7.27 (heavy rain) | Sinuiju, Uiju, Chagang, Yanggang, etc. in North Pyongan Province | o (Buildings) 4,100 houses flooded o (Farmland) 3,000 houses flooded * Applies to Sinuiju and Uiju areas only |
* Source: North Korean media (Korean Central News Agency, Rodong Sinmun, Korean Central TV, etc.)
Flood:
In July 2024, North Korea’s provinces of North Pyongan, Ryanggang, and Chagang experienced record-breaking rainfall. In Sinuiju city and Uiju county alone, 5,000 residents were trapped, and 3,000 hectares of farmland were submerged. The affected regions were designated as “special-level disaster emergency areas,” with North Korea implementing comprehensive recovery measures (KCNA 8/3/2024). Kim Jong Un has reportedly made a show of leading rescue operations without wearing a life vest. While this year’s flooding presents a serious challenge on its own, the more pressing concern is the recurring and worsening damage from natural disasters that North Korea faces annually.
According to EM-DAT data from the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) at the University of Louvain in Belgium, North Korea experienced 16 large-scale natural disasters between 2012 and 2021, eight of which were floods. Notably, North Korean media and international organizations provided detailed figures, reporting 528 people dead or missing due to torrential rains in July 2012 and 569 dead or missing following floods in late August 2016. The “World Disasters Report 2015” by the International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC) noted that 612,141 people died from natural disasters in North Korea during that period, representing 28.8% of total disaster-related deaths worldwide. This underscores the critical crises that the state faces, with significant human losses and extensive damage to homes and farmland.
Since Kim Jong Un assumed power, he has recognized the severe economic and social impacts of natural disasters and has called for proactive measures to address them. He places particular emphasis on developing science and technology to mitigate the country’s vulnerabilities, especially through the modernization of the hydrometeorological sector (KCNA 8/12/2024). These initiatives, aimed at actively responding to natural disasters, can not only help safeguard lives and property but can also be leveraged to boost agricultural production and enhance military capabilities.
North Korea has also been taking active institutional measures to improve disaster response by restructuring relevant organizations. For instance, it adopted the Disaster Prevention, Rescue and Recovery Act as Decree 76 of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People’s Assembly on June 27, 2014. Before this legislation, authority and responsibility for disaster management were fragmented and dependent on the type of disaster. The new law unified these regulations and adopted the universal concept of the “Four Phases of Emergency Management”—mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
Following the large-scale flood damage in 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, North Korea amended this law twice, expanding the scope and categories of natural disasters, specifying disaster classifications, and systematizing the disaster management process. It also established the National Emergency Disaster Prevention Measure Committee as the central authority for disaster management, developing action plans and clarifying responsibilities. Under this system, North Korea conducts land management campaigns every fall and spring, aimed at improving rivers, streams, and roads to prevent natural disasters (KCNA 11/6/2024). In fact, their efforts in river and stream improvement have received some international recognition for yielding positive outcomes.
Nevertheless, North Korea’s overall disaster response capability remains profoundly insufficient. According to the INFORM Risk Index, North Korea ranks 65th out of 191 countries in terms of overall risk (European Commission).[1] Although this represents some improvement compared to the past, one critical category—lack of coping capacity—has actually worsened. Despite the regime’s proactive efforts to address disasters through new legislation and organizational reforms, as mentioned earlier, these initiatives have yet to produce significant or meaningful policy outcomes in practice.
Addressing natural disasters is a critical challenge for the Kim regime, as these events not only cause immediate harm to the North Korean people and their society but also have far-reaching negative effects on the social system. In the past, excessive deforestation for energy purposes devastated the country’s forests. As a result, heavy rainfall now often leads to severe flooding and landslides, inflicting extreme damage on farmlands and housing. Flooded farmlands, in turn, contribute to food shortages, worsening daily life for citizens and potentially fueling dissatisfaction with Kim Jong Un’s leadership.
In response to mounting public discontent over the recent flood management, Kim reportedly replaced the Minister of Social Security along with several party cadres in North Pyongan and Chagang provinces, holding them accountable for inadequate preparation ahead of the crisis. This move appears to be an attempt to shift responsibility onto regional leaders for the poor disaster response. Simultaneously, Kim seeks to build an image of a caring leader by personally visiting disaster sites and leading recovery efforts. However, the repeated disasters and the regime’s lack of capacity to respond effectively will only serve to highlight the inadequacies of the party, ultimately deepening public dissatisfaction and eroding trust in both the system and Kim Jong Un’s leadership.
Since no country can fully prevent natural disasters in the current era of climate crisis, the key lies in how effectively a nation mitigates and prepares for the damage, and how quickly it recovers afterward. However, North Korea’s response to recent flood damage reveals its continued reliance on mass mobilization to address problems on a case-by-case basis, rather than adopting a systematic restoration process guided by a well-organized framework.
North Korea’s independent efforts to strengthen its disaster response capabilities clearly demonstrate their limitations. Ultimately, cooperation with the international community remains an inevitable policy option for the regime. As highlighted in its Voluntary National Review (VNR), North Korea is actively seeking support and collaboration from the global community to enhance its adaptability to climate change. In alignment with the international adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, North Korea also contributed by submitting its National Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction 2019-2030.
Since the end of last year, with North Korea’s declaration of the “Two Hostile States [Koreas] at War” rhetoric, tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been escalating. However, inter-Korean disaster cooperation could serve as a valuable starting point for resuming dialogue and exchanges between the two Koreas. In the recent Liberation Day speech, President Yoon Suk Yeol announced the “August 15 Unification Doctrine,” which included a proposal to establish an “Inter-Korean Working Group” to address issues such as “disaster and climate-change responses” (Office of the President 2024).
In anticipation of renewed inter-Korean dialogue, the creation of a joint climate forecast warning system to mitigate disaster damage could be an effective step forward. This agenda aligns with Kim Jong Un’s consistent emphasis on the modernization of the hydrometeorological sector to reduce damage from natural disasters. For North Korea to minimize yearly disaster-related damage and ensure the safety of its people, accepting South Korea’s cooperation proposal would be a practical and necessary move.
References
European Commission. n.a. “INFORM Country Risk Profile – Korea DPR.” https://drmkc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/inform-index/INFORM-Risk/Country-Risk-Profile
International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC). 2015. “World Disasters Report 2015: Focus on local actors, the key to humanitarian effectiveness.” https://www.ifrc.org/sites/default/files/World-Disasters-Report-2015_en.pdf
Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). 2024. “Session of Permanent Commission of SPA Standing Committee of DPRK Held.” September 21.
______. 2024. “Western Region of DPRK Renders Aids to Flood Victims.” August 3.
______. 2024. “Efforts Made to Ensure Prompt and Correct Weather Forecast.” August 12.
Office of the President. 2024. “Address by President Yoon Suk Yeol on the 79th Liberation Day.” Speeches and Remarks. August 15. https://eng.president.go.kr/speeches/YhZsGrfN
[1] The INFORM Risk Index is an annual assessment released by the European Commission’s Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre (DRMKC) that evaluates the disaster risk levels of countries based on three criteria: Hazard & Exposure, Vulnerability, and Lack of Coping Capacity.