North Korea has been accused of doctoring a news photo to exaggerate damage from recent rains.

The image showing pedestrians wading through thigh-high water on a Pyongyang street was released by North Korea’s state run Korea Central News Agency to the Associated Press, as part of their recently-signed licensing deal. 

Through AP, The Korea Herald carried it in its July 18th edition along with an article about flood damage in the North.

“Some parts of the image have been digitally manipulated and (it) does not accurately reflect the scene,” the AP said Sunday in a note to its subscribers, asking them to remove the picture.

It is not the first time that the communist state has been suspected of releasing faked images. Earlier this year, it released a photo showing children riding a sled on the frozen Daedong River, which experts say was doctored to put more children in the scene.

In 2008, it released an image of Kim Jong-il, its supreme leader, with a group of soldiers in an apparent bid to quell rumors about the leader’s poor health. However, it is suspected that Kim was cropped from an old picture and added to the scene.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)