ID :
191815
Wed, 06/29/2011 - 14:33
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/191815
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea discharges water from border dam: officials
(ATTN: ADDS response from gov't in paras 6-8)
EUIJEONGBU, South Korea, June 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea began discharging water from a dam near the border earlier this week without notifying South Korea, officials here said Wednesday.
Officials here in this Gyeonggi Province town, north of Seoul, said the North opened the Hwanggang Dam near the Imjin River, which flows out to South Korea's west coast, and has kept it open since.
"No damage has been reported around the Imjin River," an official said. "We're not concerned about (the water level of the river) yet."
Officials said the water level on the Pilseung Bridge near the border, which serves as a gauge of North Korea's water discharge, reached 4.49 meters as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, well over the warning level of 3 meters, and then fell to 4.03 meters at 4:20 p.m. Wednesday.
Officials said it usually takes 10 hours for waters from the Hwanggang Dam to reach the Pilseung Bridge.
"The North has not given any notice to South Korea prior to discharging water," said an official at Seoul's unification ministry. "As far as I'm concerned, as the North opened the Hwanggang Dam without notifying the South a few years ago, the provincial government has been guarded against possibilities of such action."
The North's move came amid soured inter-Korean relations following the North's deadly sinking of a South Korean warship in March 2010 and its shelling of a frontline island in November.
North Korea has been hit by Typhoon Meari this week, officials added, suggesting that a sudden rise of the water level there might have forced the discharge.
It is the same dam that North Korea opened without prior notice in September 2009. The ensuing flash flood claimed six South Korean lives. At a later inter-Korean meeting on flood control, North Korea expressed regrets over the incident and vowed to give prior notice before future discharges.
EUIJEONGBU, South Korea, June 29 (Yonhap) -- North Korea began discharging water from a dam near the border earlier this week without notifying South Korea, officials here said Wednesday.
Officials here in this Gyeonggi Province town, north of Seoul, said the North opened the Hwanggang Dam near the Imjin River, which flows out to South Korea's west coast, and has kept it open since.
"No damage has been reported around the Imjin River," an official said. "We're not concerned about (the water level of the river) yet."
Officials said the water level on the Pilseung Bridge near the border, which serves as a gauge of North Korea's water discharge, reached 4.49 meters as of 8 a.m. Tuesday, well over the warning level of 3 meters, and then fell to 4.03 meters at 4:20 p.m. Wednesday.
Officials said it usually takes 10 hours for waters from the Hwanggang Dam to reach the Pilseung Bridge.
"The North has not given any notice to South Korea prior to discharging water," said an official at Seoul's unification ministry. "As far as I'm concerned, as the North opened the Hwanggang Dam without notifying the South a few years ago, the provincial government has been guarded against possibilities of such action."
The North's move came amid soured inter-Korean relations following the North's deadly sinking of a South Korean warship in March 2010 and its shelling of a frontline island in November.
North Korea has been hit by Typhoon Meari this week, officials added, suggesting that a sudden rise of the water level there might have forced the discharge.
It is the same dam that North Korea opened without prior notice in September 2009. The ensuing flash flood claimed six South Korean lives. At a later inter-Korean meeting on flood control, North Korea expressed regrets over the incident and vowed to give prior notice before future discharges.
