Lawmakers upbraid military in connection with deadly N. Korean dam discharge

YEONCHEON, South Korea, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- A group of South Korean lawmakers
chided the military Friday for failing to alarm local authorities when North
Korea opened a border dam earlier this week, triggering a flash flood that killed
six campers in the South.

The lawmakers, who belong to the parliamentary national security committee, were
visiting the Imjin river where the campers, including an eight-year-old boy, had
been swept away on Sunday morning.
Refraining from an apology, North Korea said it had to urgently discharge water
to curb a surge in the water level, promising to notify the South the next time
it opens its border dams.
South Korea has lashed out at North Korea, arguing the "intentional" release
breached international law and should be investigated and apologized for.
Ruling party lawmaker Kim Hak-song said the South Korean military should also be
held responsible because it had learned of the rising water level yet failed to
notify local governing bodies.
"It's a pity that the military could have avoided the accident by promptly
contacting" local officials, Kim said as he inspected the army base operating in
the area.
A South Korean army guard had reported rising water levels early Sunday morning,
but the military command only moved to evacuate its personnel camping out along
the river.
After being subdued amid public criticism over a lack of communication with
civilian authorities, South Korean defense officials have begun to defend
themselves, arguing they had not been legally bound to notify the local
government.
"The military has adopted a stance where it is not to blame. Still, it also needs
to feel responsible for the deaths of six innocent lives," Rep. Kim Moo-sung of
the ruling Grand National Party said, calling on defense and civilian officials
to work out a scheme against future flash floods.
South and North Korea have yet to forge a formal accord on border water control.
Relations between the two sides have deteriorated since a switch in
administrations in South Korea early last year. The countries remain technically
at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce rather than a peace treaty.
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