Heavy downpours battered western and eastern coastal areas between Tuesday and Thursday, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

"The deluge of rain has inflicted heavy damage to agriculture and other sectors of the national economy and people's living in the relevant areas," the news agency said.

Koksan county in North Hwanghae province had 431 millimetres (17 inches) of rain during the week, it said, without saying if there were any casualties.

Last year monsoon rains swept through much of the nation, killing hundreds of people and causing severe property damage.

Experts say decades of reckless deforestation have stripped North Korea of tree cover that provides natural protection from catastrophic flooding.

Energy-starved residents have used every scrap of wood from the countryside to cook food or heat homes through the bitter winters, leaving the country vulnerable to flooding and landslides on a massive scale.

Government officials have worsened the problem by encouraging residents to expand farmland into the hillsides in a bid to grow more food.