South Korea Seeks North Korean Explanation About Flash Flood

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea rejected North Korea's explanation for a sudden, deadly release of dam water, saying Tuesday that Pyongyang should clarify more thoroughly and apologize for flooding that left six South Koreans dead or missing.

The North said in its message Monday that it "urgently" had to release dammed water to a river flowing across the border between Saturday night and Sunday morning because the water level was too high. The release caused Imjin River's level to double Sunday, sweeping away six South Koreans camping and fishing near the border dividing the two Koreas.

"North Korea's message is not the level we can understand and we think it is very regrettable because it did not have any mention of our serious human casualties," Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters Tuesday.

Chun said South Korea wants "responsible North Korean authorities" to apologize and offer "sufficient" explanation on why it had to release such a large amount of water without notice.

South Korean officials have raised questions over North Korea's excuse, saying there have been little rains in areas north of Imjin River over the past week.

An estimated 40 million tons of water came from a new North Korean dam – one that some in the South had warned the North could use as a weapon. South Korea's Defense Ministry, however, said Monday there were no immediate signs the water release was meant as an attack.

The North Korean message was unexpectedly quick as it came only about six hours after South Korea sent a message seeking explanation for the flooding. The North also said it would warn its neighbor of similar releases in the future, and Chun said South Korea will consider talks with the North to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.

North Korea and South Korea technically remain in a state of war, divided by a heavily militarized border, because their three-year conflict in the 1950s ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Relations blossomed under the "Sunshine Policy" espoused by two liberal South Korean administrations but went cold after the election of conservative President Lee Myung-bak 18 months ago.

Pyongyang recently reached out to Seoul again, agreeing to restart long-suspended joint economic projects and resume the reunions of families divided during the Korean War.

As part of anti-flooding efforts, South Korea has been building two dams in the area, scheduled to be completed by 2011 and 2012, respectively. On Monday, the Land Ministry said in a statement it will advance the construction of the first dam by one year in the wake of Sunday's flooding.

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Associated Press Writer Jae-soon Chang contributed to this report.

Comments

[limpidgreen]

North Korea has been sending a multitude of mixed signals lately, though this one might be simple incompetence. Van Jackson addresses North Korean actions in an article at asiachroni­clenews.co­m

[darter22]

Maybe dams can be considered Weapons of Mass Destruction so Bush?Cheney can justify their Iraq war.

[happykiddo]

Can we please stop giving North Korea any aid?? They only use it for their military and weapons programs. Kim Jong il brings in women from different countries for his benefit.

PLEASE STOP supporting this tyranny!!

Bill Clinton...THAT MEANS YOU!!

[changeself]

recent south korean history (finally acknowledged by Time megazine recently):

1222 (confirmed so far) massive burial sites confirmed and still counting.

ex-pres. Noh launched the truth and reconciliation committee in 2007 or so

to investigate the long-standing claims of massacres (around the korean war) by survivors and witnesses.

the current rightwing pres Lee will stop the investigation by letting the commission expire in 2010.

----------­----------­----
ex-pres Noh commited suicide months ago

when the harrassment by the current pres Lee and his deputies reached the intolerable level.

the rightwingers made an example out of Noh

with the message that

you (the left) challenge us, and we will kill you one way or another.

folks in the US should stand up and notice

what their future holds for them.

[happykiddo]

Get the facts straight.

Ex President Noh commited suicide months ago because he and his family was being investigated for fraud and bribery charges. There would have been no interrogation if he didn't take the money. And killing himself proves that he did take the money.

Harrassment by the current pres Lee? Investigation of bribery charges is considered harassment? President Noh was hypocrite and a coward. He came to office claiming to fight fraud and for the working class. But what did he end up doing? He took millions to benefit this family and when he got caught, he commited suicide and left his family to deal with the problems.

I hope that My South Korea, where I was born and raised will finally put an end to corruption and put these people away. Atleast we know that characters like this are gone for good.

Also, there is no hope with north korea. all they do is want to fight and protect their precious military. I say starve them out, until they fall over, and then take it over and save the precious little children that are hungry.

[changeself]

consider the source: AP {AIPA.C Posse)

read time megazine article about

1222 mass murder cases confirmed so far

no typo, it's 1222 massacre burial sites confirmed in south korea so far

from around the Korean War (1950-1953)

committed by rightwing killers under the auspices of the US army / government

except 23 cases commited by the leftwing.

[TLV]

Wow. Warning people in the future i not going to bring back the dad ho were actually murdered this time around.

North Korea's government seems to function much like the Bush administration. Ooops! We goofed! Huh, huh! Ain't we dumb?

[SpaghettyIrish]

I'd chalk this up to general incompetence on the DPRK's part.
Or attention seeking...so roneree.

[patrickhenrypress]

Wow. A dam of mass destruction. That's really going to scare them way down south in Seoul. I love the newspaper's editorializing: "this is not something that we can overlook," the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper said in an editorial Monday. It warned that South Korea would suffer "unimaginable damage" if the North uses the dam for military purposes.

I feel sorry for the people who lost their lives. I also feel for the South Koreans who have tolerated this cross-border hostility for decades. However, keeping some perspective, we cause more collateral damage in a day in Pakistan than this North Korean "weapon" did, and we're not at war with that country.

It sounds like an accident or they stupidly drained the dam without notifying people in the path of the water. At least, it wasn't coal ash burying towns!!!

Hey, who needs border skirmishes when you have bull-headed corporations who couldn't care less about the environment, or the people who live near their deliberate catastrophes? Can America declare war on its coal industry now, or are we under some kind of truce?

Suggestion: If you know your neighbor is hostile and you know he's building a dam near your common border and you suspect your neighbor might cause a massive water release at any time, why do you a) allow camping there, and b) not build water diversion and capture facilities downstream to USE that water your neighbor seems eager to send you?

[seattle music]

Why are you apologizing for their gross incompetence and/or murder of civilians?

What could possibly motivate you to write such a mean-spirited screed about the death of six innocent human beings?

[BulwerLytton]

You seriously underestimate the potential of the Imjin River as a weapon.

Though it may sound laughable in this high tech age, military planners in the Republic of Korea (including U.S. advisers) have long been concerned about the effects of a purposeful OR accidental dam breach on any of several rivers that flow between the two countries, and countermeasures (water diversion/capture facilities) have been under construction for almost three decades. Much of the world, with little knowledge of either hydrodynamics or the history of the Korean Conflict, openly scoffs at these hugely expensive projects (Google "Peace Dam").

The Imjin, with it's precipitous canyon walls concentrating the energy of a massive release, could potentially sever many or all of the bridges that join the two halves of the South's capital city of Seoul. Keep in mind that Sunday's release was akin to draining the top quarter inch of an Olympic-size pool.

Such a scenario would effectively isolate the South's military below the Han River (which joins the Imjin just northeast of the capital), allowing the million-man North Korean standing army stationed at the DMZ to reach into the heart of the South Korea's financial, shipping, and manufacturing center in a single giant stride.

[BulwerLytton]

My apologies: the Imjin and the Han join just northWEST of Seoul.

[BulwerLytton]

http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/korea-dam.htm

[nofog]

Funny to hear that North Korea is being accused by the South counterpart
on using a dam as a weapon, it killed 3 and 3 others are missing....lol
I am no fan of anyone , but this take the cake, A weapon of mass destruction
that kills three, that's a massive number....wow
soon they're going to be blamed for garbage as the next weapon of mass stink
Use Kim chi jars to lob at the south, get your masks everyone.....
Again, cool heads should take over and asses, if the South already as they claim
to know the North will use the dam as a weapon, why is it so difficult for them
to place electronic gadgets within their country, but close to the border to detect
and give an early warning, no different than using the idea of systems on the oceans
to monitor Tsunamis .

[czs5056]

it can be used as a WMD. it can create drought in the south causing crop failure and mass starvation.

[StPeteRickster]

North Korea just withdrew from the Armistice on 5/27/2009.

They even announced it, all official like.

Technically, they ARE in a state of WAR, right now.

Part of the reason we have 36,000 troops stationed there.

[dalaiwonka]

lol i meant WWIII. :P

[dalaiwonka]

wouldnt it be wicked if something as "natural" as a flash flood started WWII and not some crazy futuristic mumbo jumbo weapon of mass destruction? lets hope this doesnt spiral out of control.

[TLV]

They let the water out by releasing it on purpose because they said they "had to" for emergency purposes. They admitted it. Read the article.

[dalaiwonka]

thats why i wrote "natural" in quotations...water is natural and damns are quite primitive...