Korea summit delayed over floods

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6952648.stm

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North Korea has asked for a historic summit with the South to be postponed because of severe flooding which may have made 300,000 people homeless.

The meeting in Pyongyang, now delayed until October, will be only the second between the leaders of the two states, which technically are still at war.

North Korea has made a rare appeal for international aid to tackle the floods which have killed hundreds of people.

Damage to farmland could deal a serious blow to this year's harvest.

North Korea's government told South Korea that the priority was to recover from the flood damage and stabilise the lives of the people.

A bad harvest would worsen the existing food problem in a country already short of 1m tons of food each year, or 20% of what is needed to feed the population.

Over the last week almost 50cm of rain have fallen on Pyongyang, a city of three million people, causing the main river to overflow.

Public transportation has been disrupted and in some areas communication lines have been cut.

The government in Seoul has announced it will initially send a relief package worth $7.5m dollars in supplies.