Seoul protests to North Korea over deadly water release

The floodwaters hit five campers and a fishermen early Sunday after the North released water into the Imjin River that crosses the frontier, briefly swelling it to twice its normal depth.

“The government has expressed regret that a North Korean dam along the Imjin River released water yesterday without prior notice and caused big damage, including six of our citizens going missing,” the unification ministry said.

Seoul demanded an explanation and called on its neighbor to give prior warning the next time it releases dam water.

The incident could cast a new shadow over relations that had lately been improving after more than a year of tensions. The North last month freed five South Korean detainees, eased border curbs and sent envoys for talks with President Lee Myung-Bak.

Seoul's land ministry said 40 million cubic meters (52 million cubic yards) of water was released for unknown reasons.

“North Korea must account for the cause of the accident,” said Prime Minister Han Seung-Soo during an inspection of the campsite.

Some 2,600 soldiers and police were mobilized Monday to search for the missing. Police said three bodies had been recovered several miles downstream and a search was continuing for the other three.

Police are also investigating whether there was any negligence by Seoul officials in charge of issuing flood alerts.

On Sunday they found the body of a North Korean boy aged four or five which apparently drifted down river following the same incident.

The ruling Grand National Party demanded an apology.

“Whatever the reason was, it was an unpardonable criminal act,” the party said in a strongly worded statement.

“North Korea must make an immediate and official apology over the incident and present countermeasures to prevent it from recurring.”

Problems began after the North began building dams on the Imjin river in 2000 to generate electricity.

Previous discharges from the dams have damaged fish farms and riverside areas in Yeoncheon County, 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Seoul, but Sunday's was the first to claim any lives.

“We have yet to identify it as an attack by flooding,” said defence ministry spokesman Won Tae-Jae, adding no unusual activity had been detected at the North's Hwanggang Dam before the discharge.

Seoul officials have in the past expressed fears of such a deliberate attack.

In 1986 North Korea broke ground on a major dam near Hwacheon, about 200 kilometers northeast of Seoul.

South Korea began building its Peace Dam downstream in 1987 to block any discharge but the structure was not completed until 2005.

The two Koreas, who have remained technically at war since their 1950-53 conflict, have no formal accord on water discharges.

Seoul has repeatedly asked for pre-notification. But Pyongyang said it cannot give this because water from the dams is “naturally discharged when it reaches the maximum height,” according to the unification ministry.

During economic talks in 2005, North Korea agreed to give notification of water discharges that year, Yonhap news agency reported. The promise was not kept that summer, prompting Seoul to send a protest letter.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

PrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email