The United Nations World Food Program forecasts that North Korea's flooding will result in some 300-thousand victims and 450-thousand tons of damaged crops.

Based on a U.N. damage assessment team's initial interview with Pyongyang officials, WFP spokesman Paul Risley said that he received reports of damage to eleven percent of the country's farmland.

He said that if the damage estimates are accurate, the international community should consider long-term humanitarian aid to the communist state.

The spokesman said that his agency is discussing with North Korean authorities the provision of emergency food aid to the flood victims in the form of energy biscuits and enriched bean products.