<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/seaofjapan_broadview_tmo_2015117.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/seaofjapan_broadview_tmo_2015117.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/seaofjapan_broadview_tmo_2015117.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > This image shows multiple wildfires burning in North Korea on April 27, 2015, as captured from space by NASA's Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite. (NASA Photo) (NASA Photo)

It's never easy to get information out of super-secretive North Korea, but we occasionally get to take a peek into the socialist state thanks to weather observations and satellite images.

Recently, NASA's Terra satellite aimed its Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) at the Asian nation to get a better look at wildfires scorching the land . The image shows a massive smoke plume drifting from the North Korean wildfires into the Sea of Japan and over Japan.

"As snow retreats in the spring, many farmers use fire to clear away last year’s crop debris and to fertilize the soil for the coming season," NASA said on its Earth Observatory page.

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Wildfires have been burning for more than a month on the Korean Peninsula. According to the International Business Times, an inferno reached the Korean Demilitarization Zone near the end of March, fanned by strong winds. No injuries or damage were reported, but both sides of the demilitarized zone worked to extinguish the blaze.

According to Reuters, North Korea has been battling a serious drought that caused some rivers to run dry last summer. The drought continued into the dry winter, and there are now concerns that food shortages could arise if the dry weather persists through this summer, NASA writes.

Below is a zoomed-in photo of the image at the top of this page. This photo shows the area inside the square in the image above, where most of the wildfires originated.

<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/seaofjapandetail_tmo_2015117_1.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/seaofjapandetail_tmo_2015117_1.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/seaofjapandetail_tmo_2015117_1.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > (NASA Photo)

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