North Korea's official newspaper on Wednesday urged stepped-up efforts for effective water management to prevent the recurrence of flooding that caused heavy damage to the country last summer.

"Without well organizing rivers and streams, we could be faced with tremendous damage as our homes, public buildings, roads and railways could be inundated or destructed and our farmland could be lost," the Rodong Sinmun, the organ of the ruling Workers' Party, said.

"Natural disasters will cost us quite efforts, facilities and materials to recover and eventually hinder normal economic development," the paper added.

The paper urged local officials and workers to be responsible for water management in their own towns, saying the responsibility should not be shifted to the central government.

North Korea was hit hard by flooding prompted by back-to-back typhoons last summer, which experts presumed to have devastated large swaths of farming areas.

North Korea has recently emphasized better water management ahead of the full-swing rice planting season and the summer, which could bring typhoons and heavy downpours in the country. (Yonhap)