Seoul: The death toll from severe flooding in the northeast of North Korea has risen to 133 with another 395 missing, the UN said.

Some 107,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the area along the Tumen River, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement received Monday citing Pyongyang government figures.

People in the area are suffering  ‘great hardship’, according to North Korean state media. A nationwide mass mobilisation labour campaign intended to bolster the economy has been redirected to assist flood victims.

More than 35,500 houses have been damaged, with 69 per cent of them completely destroyed, and a further 8,700 public buildings have been damaged, OCHA said in a statement dated Sunday.

Around 16,000 hectares (39,540 acres) of farmland had been inundated and at least 140,000 people urgently need help, it said.