The armed forces of North Korea, the Korean People’s Army, have deployed over ten helicopters for disaster relief operations in response to flash floods in the city of Sinuiju, the town of Uiju, and surrounding areas near the Chinese border on July 27. More than 5,000 people were isolated by flooding, with the helicopters having made several fights to move the residents. 4,200 of the affected people were rescued by airlift, and the remainder by other means. The chariman of the country’s ruling Workers’ Party Kim Jong Un arrived in the region the following day to help oversee efforts. The Korean People’s Army Air Force fields close to 300 helicopters, including four of the world’s largest helicopter class the Mi-26, with the floods having provided an unprecedentedly close look at one of these from its fleet. The aircraft were acquired from Russia in 1995-96, and are based at Pukchang Air Base.
The Mi-26 is notable for having an empty weight less than half its maximum takeoff weight, which is important to its continued record holding position as the helicopter with the world’s largest carrying capacity. Each can lift over 50 tons of weight, with a maximum takeoff weight estimated at 105 tons. North Korea was reportedly able to acquire the costly helicopters relatively cheaply due to the sharp contraction of the Russian Air Force from 1992, which left the large majority of Mi-26s as surplus at a time when Russia’s economy was in crisis. Acquiring these heavy lift aircraft was notably prioritised by the North Korean Defence Ministry over the acquisition of Mi-24 attack helicopters, which had previously been speculated. In Russia itself, the recovery of the air force from the 2010s led to renewed acquisitions of enhanced Mi-26 variants, namely the Mi-26T, which have recently played important roles transporting reinforcing personnel to and from the frontlines during the Russian-Ukrainian War.
Alongside the Mi-26, lighter Mi-8 helicopters were also seen supporting disaster operations. The deployment of helicopters for disaster relief in North Korea has a long history, with major floods from 1995-96 having been among the most serious seen anywhere in the world in the 20th century, resulting in an extensive need for such support. Flooding in the northwestern regions, which have long been breadbasket provinces, has often exacerbated food shortages in the country. A significant factor worsening this remains the Western-led oil embargo exacerbating fuel shortages for the mechanised agriculture and fertiliser industries, with significant mechanisation needed due to the country’s farmland being among the scarcest and lowest quality in the world relative to its population size.