South Korea will share information with the North about a devastating forest fire that engulfed the country's northeastern regions near the inter-Korean border and will convey the need for possible cooperation, the unification ministry said Friday.

The fire that broke out in Goseong, 160 kilometers northeast of Seoul, on Thursday spread quickly to neighboring areas, leaving one dead and thousands displaced. President Moon Jae-in earlier ordered officials to work with the North to put out the fire if it spreads across the border.



"Through the liaison office, we will share the situation regarding the fire (with the North) and convey the need for possible inter-Korean cooperation," Lee Eugene, the ministry's deputy spokeswoman, told a regular press briefing.

The South Korean government declared a state of national disaster over the fire as the damage has been piling up to what authorities have described as "an unprecedented extent."  (Yonhap)