North Korea is in the grip of its worst drought in nearly four decades, state media has reported, amid severe food shortages.
The Korean Central News Agency said an average of 2.1 inches of rain fell in the first five months of the year.
It added that it was the lowest level since 1982, when it received two inches on average during the same period.
The report came after UN food agencies revealed earlier this month that about 10 million North Koreans were facing “severe food shortages” after one of the worst harvests in a decade.
North Korean officials have blamed the food shortages on bad weather and international sanctions that were toughened after the country conducted a series of nuclear and missile tests.
The country’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported that the country was in a “fierce battle” to prevent drought damage.
It said: “Workers in the agriculture sector must... storm to thoroughly protect farm fields from drought damage.” North Korea suffered a famine in the mid-Nineties that was estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands of people.
