S. Korea protests North's dam discharge that leaves six dead, missing

(ATTN: UPDATES headline, throughout with three found dead, no sign yet of deliberate
attack, distance from DMZ)
By Kim Hyun and Sam Kim
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea protested on Monday the North's
unannounced discharge of dam water that left six people dead or missing in the
South, an incident that may become a new thorn in recovering inter-Korean
relations.
The South Koreans, camping or fishing along a western river, were swept away
early Sunday morning after North Korea released a large quantity of dam water
without prior notice. Police also found the body of what appeared to be a North
Korean boy, aged four or five, that drifted into the South.
"Our government expressed regrets" and asked the North to give an explanation
about the incident, Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said in a press
briefing. He said Seoul also "strongly pressed" Pyongyang to give alert messages
in the future to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.
North Korea has yet to respond to the protest letter sent through an inter-Korean
hotline, officials said.
North Korea's unannounced water discharges have occasionally caused damage to
fish farms and riverside areas downstream of the Imjin River, which runs across
the inter-Korean border, since the North began building dams in upper waters in
2000. The latest incident, however, is the first where lives were lost. Three
people were found dead Monday morning, while the others were still missing.
Military officials from South Korea and the United States were working together
to determine whether the discharge of some 40-million-tons water was deliberate
or unintentionally caused by summer downpours. South Korean defense spokesman Won
Tae-jae said there was "no sign yet" that showed the incident was a deliberate
attack.
South Korea's alert system has also been faulted. Won said an army guard reported
rising water levels early Sunday morning, but the military command failed to
notify the local government, leaving the campers unattended. Flood alert
equipment along the riverside also failed to operate at the time of the incident.
"It appears that the combined civilian and military defense system has not
practiced a scenario like this before," the ministry spokesman said.
The discharge took a heavy toll on weekend vacationers. Five of the victims,
including an 8-year-old boy and his father, were camping 25km south of the
demilitarized zone that bisects the Koreas, while the other was fishing 38km away
from the border when they were swept away, according to the Ministry of Land,
Transport and Maritime Affairs that oversees flood-related issues.
The Koreas have no formal accord on water discharges. In inter-Korean talks in
recent years, Seoul has repeatedly asked for pre-notification, but the two sides
have not been able to settle on technical procedures.
Responding to a protest letter from Seoul in 2005 when a water discharge from the
North swept away South Korean fishing nets, Pyongyang explained that its dam
water is "naturally discharged when it reaches the maximum height," according to
the Unification Ministry.
There have been no consultations on the matter since the conservative Lee
Myung-bak government came to power in Seoul last year.
hkim@yna.co.kr
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)