N. Korean dam was full before deadly water discharge: source

SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's border dam reached maximum capacity
before its floodgates opened last week, discharging water into South Korea and
killing six South Koreans, a source said Sunday.
Satellite photos taken before the Sept. 6 discharge show that water had risen to
the top of the Hwanggang dam, the government source in Seoul said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
"It appears that the intent was to drain water," the high-level source said. "But
we're still analyzing why North Korea released as much as 40 million tons of
water in a single discharge in such pre-dawn hours of a Sunday."
The discharge created a flash flood that swept away a group of South Koreans,
including an eight-year-old boy, camping at the Imjin River south of the border.
All of them were found dead, and a joint funeral was held Sunday in a city north
of Seoul.
The incident sparked a political uproar in the South. The Seoul government has
demanded an apology, which the North has come short of giving while arguing that
the discharge was purely technical.
North Korea has promised to give a warning the next time it discharges water from
a border dam. Upbraiding the North for violating "customary" international law,
the South Korean government said the deadly discharge was "intentional."
"We're still analyzing whether the discharge was triggered by a malignant motive
or was a result of necessity," the source said.
Recent rains could have caused the water level to rise in the North, the source
added, or one of a few dozen man-made embankments behind the Hwanggang damn may
have ruptured.
The source said that border patrol by a group of 10 North Korean soldiers a day
before the discharge appeared to have been routine, as it took place at least
20km away from the dam.
The incident emerged as a new thorn in relations between the two Koreas, which
remain technically at war after their 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce.
(END)