S. Korea protests North's abrupt dam discharge that left 6 missing

SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea protested on Monday over the North's
unannounced discharge of dam water that left six people missing, an incident that
may become a new thorn in cross-border relations.

Floodwaters swept the campers away early Sunday morning after North Korea
released a large quantity of dam water into the Imjin River that runs through the
inter-Korean border in the west, South Korean authorities say.
"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 pressed Pyongyang to "pre-notify us in the future
when discharges are expected."
The letter was sent through an inter-Korean hotline in the name of the minister
of land, transport and maritime affairs, Chung Jong-hwan, who is in charge of
flood-related issues.
North Korea's unannounced water discharges have often caused damage to fish farms
and riverside areas in Yeoncheon County, 60km north of Seoul in Gyeonggi
Province, since the North began building dams in 2000. The latest incident was
the first, however, where lives were lost.
Police also discovered the body of a boy, aged four or five, that apparently
drifted downriver from the North on Sunday.
The Koreas have no formal accord on water discharges, and although Seoul has
repeatedly asked for pre-notification, the two sides have not been able to settle
on technical procedures.
There have been no consultations on the matter since the conservative Lee
Myung-bak government came to power in Seoul last year.
Officials here also fault South Korea's alert system. Military authorities are
said to have spotted the sudden surge in water level but did not notify the local
government, leaving the campers unattended.
Police were also investigating a flood alert system that apparently failed to
operate at the time of the incident.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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