U.S. based Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported that North Korea on Monday officially requested aid for damage from heavy rains and flooding to a U.N. agency in Pyongyang.

The RFA quoted the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) spokesman Geoffrey Keele as saying that North Korean authorities officially requested from UNICEF aid for flood damage. North Korea reportedly asked for an allocation of emergency supplies UNICEF had stockpiled in North Korea.

Keele said a joint U.N. inspection team was immediately dispatched to locations in North and South Hwanghae Provinces. They plan to assess the flood damage in collaboration with the North Korean authorities.

The organization had stocked up on emergency relief supplies in more than ten locations throughout North Korea for some 100-thousand residents to use. Although it had already organized an emergency team of inspectors, the members were not put to use as North Korea had not asked for help until Monday.