A NASA satellite has shown dozens of fires burning across North Korea, which the agency says could be caused by the country’s aging infrastructure.

Some of the fires are in heavily forested areas, which suggests that they could be wildfires, said NASA. Drooping power lines on old power lines often cause wildfires in the country, reports have claimed.

Lots of the fires are in farming areas, which are likely caused by farmers to clear debris and help fertilise soil for the next season.

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The fires have sent plumes of smoke over the Sea of Japan.

NASA's finds bring further scrutiny to North Korea, which recently found itself in hot water after appearing to steal from the American space agency. The country revealed a new logo for its space agency, NADA, which looked remarkably like its US peer.

The image was taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, on NASA's Aqua satellite. The satellite has captured similar but less dense fires in the past.