N. Korean floods destroy 11% of nation's farmland

Floods caused by the largest rains ever recorded in North Korea have destroyed more than one-tenth of North Korea's farmland at the height of the impoverished country's growing season, official media reported Wednesday. "It is hard to expect a high-grain output owing to the uninterrupted rainstorms at the most important time for the growth of crops in the country," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said. Precipitation along some areas of the Taedong River are the "largest ever in the history" of measurements taken by the country's weather agency, KCNA said.