Story highlights A severe flood has exposed cracks in N. Korea's worker's paradise narrative 
 
 N. Korean state media reported on the Workers' Party's public appeal 
 
 So far, 133 people have been killed and 395 people are missing 
 
 (CNN) North Korea usually projects itself to the world as a fully functioning worker's paradise. 
 
 Yet severe flooding in the country's northeast has resulted in a rare admission that all is not so well. 
 
 According to a report published Sunday by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) -- North Korea's official state media -- the country's northeast has been affected by the "heaviest downpour" since 1945, with "tens of thousands" of buildings destroyed and people left homeless and "suffering from great hardship." 
 
 Figures released by the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs confirmed the natural disaster. 
 
 Citing North Korean government data, the report described how heavy rains resulting from Typhoon Lionrock had triggered flooding in areas such as Musan and Yonsa counties and Hoeryong City in North Hamgyong province. So far, 133 people have been killed, 395 people are missing and 140,000 people are in "urgent need of assistance." ||||| A lack of water has damaged crops across the country. File pic 
 
 North Korea has been hit by what it describes as its worst drought in a century, threatening to add to the country's chronic food shortages. 
 
 The admission by the secretive communist state comes as new pictures emerged of the country's leader Kim Jong-Un apparently enjoying military firing exercises. 
 
 The North's KCNA news agency said rice paddies around the country, including the main farming regions of Hwanghae and Phyongan provinces, were drying up due to lack of rain. 
 
 North Korea has relied on overseas food aid. Pic: File 
 
 Using the short form of the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, KCNA said: "The worst drought in 100 years continues in the DPRK, causing great damage to its agricultural field." 
 
 It will raise concerns for the population in a country where the United Nations says almost a third of children under five are stunted because of poor nutrition. 
 
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 It suffered a devastating famine in the 1990s and has relied on international food aid, but this has dropped off in recent years, because of Pyongyang's restrictions on humanitarian workers and reluctance to allow monitoring of food distribution. 
 
 Thomas Lehman, Denmark's ambassador to both North and South Korea, said on a visit to the North late last month he could "clearly see" attempts to deal with the drought in the fields. 
 
 "The lack of water has created a lot of damage to the so-called spring crop, and the rice planting is extremely difficult without sufficient water," he said. 
 
 A campaign is under way in North Korea to encourage people to help out on farms and is using mobile water pumps run on diesel and longer pipes to draw water into fields. 
 
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 Linda Lewis of the American Friends Service Committee, which runs farm projects in the North, said: "Farm managers reported receiving training in dry rice planting techniques and other measures that they were trying to conserve water." 
 
 The UN resident co-ordinator for North Korea, Ghulam Isaczai, has already warned of a looming crisis due to last year's drought, caused by the lowest rainfall in 30 years. 
 
 But he felt the food situation would not be as bad as in previous major droughts, because communities were better prepared and could have reserves. 
 
 In April, the United Nations called for $111 million to fund crucial humanitarian needs this year in North Korea, which it said remains drastically under-funded. 
 
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 Funding for UN agencies in North Korea fell to less than $50 million in 2014, from $300 million in 2004. 
 
 North Korea also relies heavily on hydroelectric power and long periods without rain can lead to chronic power shortages. 
 
 Earlier this month Pyongyang's propaganda machine produced two new posters and slogans to rally the fight against drought. 
 
 One poster, showing a smiling farmer gesturing towards a field of workers with red flags and spades, said: "Let's mobilise the masses and fight with all our strength against the drought." 
 
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 South Korea has also seen much lower rainfall, particularly in the northern regions, which have got about half the rain of an average year, according to the national weather agency.
– With torrential rains causing flooding and extensive damage to North Korea, the South Korean Red Cross has offered $4.7 million in aid, reports Yonhap News. Record storms that overwhelmed South Korea last week and killed scores of people also hit the North, killing dozens, destroying 2,900 homes, and washing away more than 148,000 acres of farmland. North Korea has yet to respond to the offer. It's been a hard year for North Korea, with a harsh winter leaving millions in danger of starvation. This new round of emergency relief may ease tensions between the Koreas, which have been high for months following several provocations from the North. Despite the flooding and food shortages, the annual Arirang Games in Pyongyang are proceeding as usual. Hundreds of thousands of people took part in choreographed dances at Monday night's opening ceremony, marking the 63rd anniversary of the country's founding, Reuters reports.,