North Korea says Beijing and the Red Cross Society of China have offered emergency relief materials to Pyongyang in response to severe flooding last week.

In a brief announcement Sunday, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said the relief would greatly encourage people in their recovery efforts.

The announcement did not mention the amount of aid nor the form it would take.

The North has not mentioned human casualties, but torrential rains in South Korea have killed dozens of people over the last week.

Following an emergency request from North Korea to United Nations a week ago, the International Committee for the Red Cross and Red Crescent sent 600 kits containing bottles of water, utensils, blankets and tarps to the country's North Hwanghae province.

The Red Cross said an additional 2,460 kits containing soap, toilet paper, towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste and water purification tablets will also be sent to South Hwanghae province. Those provinces were apparently hard hit by the recent flooding.