North Korea says thousands of homes hit by flooding

SEOUL (Reuters) - Over 4,000 homes in North Korea's city of Sinuiju and Uiju County near the border with China have been flooded due to heavy rainfall, state media KCNA said on Wednesday.

Around 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of farmland along with numerous public buildings, facilities and roads were also flooded, prompting a two-day emergency meeting by the ruling Workers' Party's powerful politburo earlier this week, the report said.

Leader Kim Jong Un chaired the meeting and expressed grave concern over the damage and urged strong measures to restore the affected areas, KCNA added.

Kim inspected the flooded areas on Sunday.

The region has been affected by heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Gaemi in recent days, which caused a landslide killing 12 people in southern China and flash floods elsewhere.

North Korea's state media have been raising the alarm in recent weeks about the monsoon season and have issued several reports on efforts to offset damage from extreme weather.

The month of July is annually the monsoon season in the Korean peninsula, but the region has experienced extreme weather in the summer months in recent years.

In South Korea, heavy rain caused landslides, train delays and heavy damage to infrastructure earlier this month.

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Sandra Maler)