(2nd LD) Seoul proposes inter-Korean talks on preventing border river flooding

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES with proposal)
By Tony Chang
SEOUL, Oct. 12 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Monday proposed holding talks with
North Korea on Wednesday to discuss ways to prevent flooding of the Imjin River
that runs across the western section of the inter-Korean border.

The talks, if realized, will be focused on preventing the recurrence of the
North's sudden water discharge from an upstream dam in September that left six
people dead, said the official, asking anonymity.
"We delivered a letter to hold talks with the North's government in the Kaesong
industrial complex on Wednesday," Chun Hae-sung, unification ministry's
spokesperson, said at a press briefing.
The letter, sent under the name of Seoul's land and transport minister Chung
Jong-hwan, was forwarded to Pak Song-nam, head of the North's Ministry of Land
and Environmental Conservation, he said.
The deadly pre-dawn discharge by the North on Sept. 5 sparked anger in South
Korea. But North Korea simply said it was forced to open the floodgates to lower
the water level and promised to notify the South in the future.
Flash floods have frequently caused damage to farms in South Korean border
regions since North Korea began building dams along the Imjin River in 2000. But
the latest incident was the first to cause human casualties.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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