SEOUL, Jan. 27 — The average temperature in North Korea has been 4 degrees lower than in the South, while the North has experienced a smaller amount of annual rainfall, the weather agency in Seoul said Friday.
The median temperature in the communist North, located in higher latitudes, was 8.5 C, or 4 degrees colder than the average posted in the South, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said in its compilation of the North's weather conditions during the 1981-2010 period.
The highest annual average temperature in the North during the 30-year period was recorded at 14.1 C, while the lowest annual average stood at 3.7 C, the KMA data also showed.
January in North Korea was the coldest month, with its average monthly temperature at minus 7.7 C while August posted the highest average temperature of 22.6 C.
The weather agency also noted that the average annual precipitation in the North stood at 919.7 millimeters over the cited period, which accounted for only 70.3 percent of the average amount of rainfall in the South. Summer rain accounted for nearly 60 percent of the North's total precipitation.
"North Korea's mountainous, inland areas and highlands showed lower temperatures than in coastal regions, while the eastern regions received the heaviest rainfall due to east winds," a KMA official said. He added that the agency plans to use the latest weather information for an array of purposes, including analyzing climate changes on the Korean Peninsula and predicting future weather conditions. (PNA/Yonhap) scs/ebp