`N.K. water discharge intentional`

North Korea seems to have intentionally discharged water from its dam in the Imjin River which led to the death of six South Korean campers, Seoul`s unification minister said yesterday.

Hyun In-taek said in response to legislators` questions that it seems North Korea "had intentions" regarding the unannounced discharge of 40 million tons of water from the Hwanggang Dam, 27 kilometers north of the demilitarized zone.

The remarks made at the session of the National Assembly`s Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee is the first claim by a high-ranking Seoul official that the release of water down from the Imjin River was intentional. South Korea had previously said it was looking into all possibilities that may have caused the North to release so much water without prior warning.



"North Korea acknowledged its unannounced discharge of water, which means it was not an accident or a mistake," Hyun told the parliamentary committee.

"The government is still examining what kind of intentions could have been there."

Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters later that Hyun`s remarks were not about whether the massive discharge of water was intended as an attack on the South.

"What the minister meant was that the act of discharge was intentional," Chun said. "Not necessarily that it was a deliberate attack."

Local authorities and rescue workers said they found the bodies of all six missing persons, three of which were discovered yesterday.

The Hwanggang Dam, which has the capacity to hold 300 to 400 million tons of water, was completed last February, the Unification Ministry told the parliamentary committee.

Two more North Korean dams are located south of the Hwanggang Dam -- "April 5" Dams 1 and 2 -- which were completed in March 2001.

North Korea said on Monday that it let the water out from Hwanggang due to a sudden rise in water levels.

However, the Unification Ministry, citing North Korean media reports, said that there was significant rainfall around Hwangang on Aug. 26-27, but less than 0.2 millimeters of precipitation in the first six days of this month.

The ministry said it will devise appropriate countermeasures based on related analysis of the cause and the North`s reaction.

It added that it will also consider holding talks with the North on prevention of future floods in Imjin.

North Korea had discharged water without prior notice six times before; March 2001; September 2002; July 2003; September 2005; and May 2006, according to the South`s Defense Ministry.

National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyung-o said yesterday he will send a statement to the North Korean Supreme People`s Assembly speaker calling for a sincere apology and preventive measures such as joint inspection on use of the river.

Kim also said he will suggest sending a parliamentary team to inspect North Korean dams and provide technical assistance should the North need any.

The mysterious disaster occurred as North Korea began to show conciliatory gestures towards the South.

The two Koreas are scheduled to hold reunions of families separated during or after the 1950-53 Korean War between Sept. 26 and Oct. 1 in the North Korean resort of Mount Geumgang.

Prisoners of war and those abducted to the North were also on the list of people Seoul requested Pyongyang to look for, the Unification Ministry said yesterday.

(sophie@heraldm.com)







By Kim So-hyun