SEOUL, Sept 2: North Korea said on Monday that scores of people were swept to their deaths and agriculture suffered a shattering blow following the passage of Typhoon Rusa, which left close to 200 feared dead or missing and caused widespread devastation in the South.

The Korean Central News Agency of North Korea, said damage was severe after rainfall topped 70 centimetres in some areas and flooded farmland along the east coast north of the border with the South.

“A large area of farmland went under water or was washed away, making it hard to expect any harvest or crops from there,” the official agency reported, suggesting that the country’s blighted economy and chronic famine will only worsen.

In South Korea, the government mobilized thousands of troops for clean-up operations after the most damaging storm in more than four decades.

The government disaster agency said the official toll stood at 158 dead or missing with an additional 29 unaccounted for. State-run KBS television said more than 180 people were feared dead or missing while Yonhap news agency said the toll topped 198.

The typhoon plowed across South Korea on Saturday destroying thousands of houses and paralyzing transport in many parts of the country.

“The death toll is going to go up because workers are trying to confirm reports concerning the 29 people unaccounted for,” said Park Hyong-Jun, an official at the government’s National Disaster Prevention and Countermeasure Headquarters (NDPCH) here.

President Kim Dae-Jung issued an order to his cabinet to free-up emergency funding for immediate disaster relief as the nation faced mounting economic losses estimated at 312 billion won (262 million dollars).

Rusa, South Korea’s worst storm in 43 years, washed away 274 bridges and severely damaged railways and roads in 174 places, transportation ministry officials said.

With thousands of electricity poles ripped up, 1.25 million households were still without power late Monday. Floods also crippled operations at a nuclear power plant in Ulchin and two thermal plants elsewhere.

High waves swept away 211 ships and wrecked mooring facilities in 24 ports at the height of the storm. About 17,000 houses remained inundated, leaving 27,470 people homeless.

Agriculture and forestry ministry officials said 85,000 hectares of farmland were ruined, triggering worries about a steep hike in food prices.

In southern provinces, farmers, helped by soldiers and government officials, drained rice fields.

The defence ministry said more than 30,000 soldiers were mobilized alongside government personnel for rescue and repair operations at flood-damaged towns.

Thousands of troops joined relief efforts in the eastern port city of Gangneung and surrounding Gangwon province, battered by a record 890 millimetres of rain on Friday and Saturday.

Relief goods have been sent to Gangneung where utility and other public facilities were severely damaged, forcing many of its 200,000 citizens to live without water and power.

—AFP