The Foreign Correspondents' Club

In comfort England slips past.

Over rivers and streams and by glimpses of copses, rabbits and foxes, past empty platforms and orchards we mix the wild flowers’ scent.

Blink and we plunge into darkness, Sleep and we awaken in misty forests of brick and cement to glimpse choked back gardens, The bustle of pardons, and grind to a halt.

A tremendous performance of public grieving in North Korea is putting many South Koreans at risk, our correspondent writes. Climate and environmental experts in the South have claimed that the tears from crying North Koreans may have an impact upon rivers, lakes and waterways in both countries and the ensuing increase in water volume will render current flood precautions useless. Lee Mok of the South Korean Water Agency believes that the simultaneous crying of over 24 million people poses a credible threat to the infrastructure of the South.

"It is time for us to take steps to ensure that the increased water volume and the swelling of our rivers does not effect our people or our property. Already we have measured a 75% increase in water depth, and a 27% increase in water velocity on the Han, so we must be very wary."

An official government spokeswoman claimed that the South was already putting measures in place to deal with the severity of the floods. According to one source within government, these 'measures' have been designed and ready for implementation for over ten years. In 2001, it is reported, the plan was drawn up as a contingency plan upon the death of the North's leader - it is ready for implementation within four hours of the death.

Alongside the severity of the flooding, farmers are being provided with special minerals to counter the salinity of the tears in the aftermath of the flood. Our correspondent spoke to a farmer in the northern area of the Gangwon province, "We cannot grow plants in salt, nor can we allow animals to graze. It is lucky for us that the government is providing us with balancing minerals to allow the soil to be regenerated after the floods."

And of course, there is debate in parliament regarding the politics behind the flooding. The suggestions being brought up in parliament have lasting effects on North-South relations. Jao Kip of the Democratic Liberal Party has made suggestions that the tear-flood was engineered by Jong-il as a last attempt to destroy the South. Growing tensions on the peninsula have led some, including Mr Kip and other cross-party personalities, to suggest that this is a tactical maneuver by the North. "This is not simply grief, this is war. We see again and again the North agitating to come through our borders - they try weapons, they try soldiers, and now they try emotion. We need to be strong and defiant. This flooding is an infringement of our sovereignty."

Regardless of the politics behind the flood, the population of South Korea is bracing itself for what some are fearing to be the worst floods on the peninsula in over half a century.