The North Korea crisis

The defector: North Korea wants to talk nuclear weapons with Trump

North Korea wants to resume nuclear talks with the US if Donald Trump wins the presidential election. This is according to defector Ri Il-Kyu, a diplomat who fled to South Korea last year from Cuba where he worked.

Ri tells the BBC that Kim Jong-Un will never give up his weapons, but that he may agree to freeze the nuclear weapons program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions from the United States.

A comeback to the White House would be "a one in a million chance" for Kim, according to Ri, according to the BBC.

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Kim in rubber boat a shift in North Korean propaganda

New photos show North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un standing with his feet in mud, riding an inflatable boat on a flooded river and stuck in his car with water up to the door.

The images indicate a new strategy from the dictatorship's propaganda machine, notes Bloomberg. Now Kim is portrayed as a leader who fights crises side by side with the citizens.

The country has been hit by heavy rain and major floods. In state media, no death figures have been reported, but the shift in communication may be a sign that the situation is bad, writes the news agency. According to information in the South Korean media, hundreds of people may have died as a result of the storm.

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Reports of 1,500 victims - but difficult to assess

Despite heavy rain, North Korea continues to keep its doors closed to international aid workers. Voice of America reports.

"We are very concerned about the consequences of the floods," writes the International Red Cross in a statement.

North Korea is vulnerable to flooding because there is a lack of infrastructure to divert water. Pictures show how entire areas of houses are almost completely under water.

It is unclear how the floods have affected North Korea as the information reaching out of the country is limited. South Korean media have reported that it could be as many as up to 1,500 dead and missing.

Jerome Sauvage, former UN coordinator for North Korea, says it is very difficult to make assessments of death figures "from a distance".