South Korea said Monday that there is not much possibility that it will provide assistance to North Korea to help it recover from damage caused by recent floods given the high tensions following Pyongyang's nuclear test.

North Korea's northeastern region is struggling to cope with what is being called its worst-ever floods since the country's liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule. Heavy rains are believed to have left more than 130 people dead and over 400 missing.

South Korea's unification ministry said that North Korea has not formally asked the South to help it cope with the latest flood damage, adding that it is not likely to make a request for assistance.

"Even if North Korea appeals for help, we don't think the possibility is high for assistance to be given under the current situation," Jeong Joon-hee, ministry spokesman, told a regular press briefing.

On Sept. 9, North Korea conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test to date, eight months after its fourth. North Korea's nuclear provocation came almost right after heavy rains pummeled North Hamgyong Province for five days starting Aug. 29.

The spokesman said that North Korea should be first held accountable for the nuke test as it poured money into that project while neglecting the suffering of its people.

"North Korea carried out the nuclear test even as it suffered from flood damage. Pyongyang should focus on rehabilitation efforts for the livelihood of its people rather than spending money on its nuclear development program," Jeong said.

A South Korean civic group asked the government in early September to approve its plan to contact North Korean officials in a third country in a bid to provide assistance to the North over the flood damage.

"The government is reviewing the group's application," Jeong said.

Seoul has suspended civilian inter-Korean exchanges and South Koreans' visits to North Korea since Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test in January.

North Korea's media outlets issued reports highlighting the extensive damage caused by the latest floods and efforts for rehabilitation.

The Rodong Sinmun, the main organ of the ruling party, said that the country's rehabilitation drive is "a fierce class struggle" against hostile forces keen to destroy North Korea.

Experts said that North Korea's release of media reports on the floods seemed to be aimed at watering down the international community's move to impose tougher sanctions and strengthen the country's internal solidarity.

"At a time when the U.N. Security Council is discussing more sanctions, the North seems to be moving to weaken the united front to slap stronger punishments by pointing out its people are suffering from the flooding," said Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korean studies at Seoul's Dongguk University.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has conducted so-called field guidances to farms and an oxygen-producing factory since the fifth nuclear test, but there has been no media report of him visiting the flood-ravaged areas.

In August 2015, Typhoon Goni flooded the North Korean border city of Rason where a special economic zone is located. A month later, the country's leader visited the city in a bid to spur efforts for recovery, according to the North's media. (Yonhap)