One million people have been affected by the downpours, with thousands injured and many more left homeless, Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

Some 240,000 houses were totally or partially destroyed, leaving 100,000 people homeless and 900,000 people flood-stricken, KCNA reported.

The country also suffered severe damage to its infrastructure after landslides and rain left hundreds of miles of roads and railways inundated.

The Republic of Korea (RoK) began delivering aid to its stricken neighbour last week. It has promised aid total almost US$40m in addition to the US$7.5m it pledged in the immediate aftermath of the floods.

International aid agencies are also working to assist the DPRK.

The Red Cross has launched a global appeal for US$5.5m, while the UN's World Food Programme has announced plans to provide food aid for more than 200,000 people.

Leaders of the two Koreas are scheduled to hold only their second summit in October. The meeting had been due to take place at the end of this month, but was postponed by the DPRK because of the floods.