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| Torrents of water pour from the Gunnam Dam on the Imjin River in South Korea's border town of Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. South Korean authorities opened the dam's floodgates to counterbalance North Korea's discharge of water from Hwanggang Dam earlier in the day. / The Korea Times photo by Koh Young-kwon |
By Jun Ji-hye
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In response, Seoul evacuated border-area residents because of the risk of flooding. The Imjin River flows into the sea on South Korea's west coast.
"North Korea began to discharge water from the Hwanggang Dam from 6 a.m. by opening the floodgates of the dam one by one," a military official said, declining to be named. "The North did not abide by the agreement to notify the South of the water discharge in advance."
The two Koreas agreed in October 2009 to notify each other of water discharges when six South Korean campers were killed near the Imjin River after the North released a massive amount of water from the border dam without prior warning in September of that year.
Despite the agreement, Pyongyang has occasionally discharged water without notice — the latest was in May, and nets and fishing gear of fishermen in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, were swept away.
After confirming Wednesday's discharge, the military immediately informed the South Korean border town of Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, and the state-run Korea Water Resources Corp. (K-water).
Some observers speculated that the latest discharges might have been the isolated state's premeditated "water attack," but the official said the military did not take this view, deeming it a "normal act" for flood control.
The latest discharge came after heavy rain in Yeoncheon that lasted for two days from Monday, which appears to have filled the Hwanggang Dam to its maximum capacity.
The official said that no major damage is expected so far as the water level at the South's Pilseung Bridge in the upper regions of the Imjin River has not dramatically risen. The official added that the military and relevant organizations are monitoring the situation.
The North's Hwanggang Dam is located some 56 kilometers away from the South's Gunnam Dam. If the North discharged water at 500 tons per second, it would take eight to nine hours to reach the South Korean dam, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
If necessary, Seoul opens its Gunnam Dam's floodgates to lower the water level. The dam, which was opened in 2010, was designed to deal with flash floods from Pyongyang.
Contingency plans
The government has a four-stage contingency plan to better respond to the North's water discharges that are done without notification.
The stages are "attention," "caution," "alert" and "serious," which are warnings issued based on the water levels at the Pilseung Bridge, and the Peace Dam on the Bukhan River. The government established the plan after the deaths of the campers in 2009.
It issues an "attention" warning when the water level at the Pilseung Bridge exceeds 7.5 meters, or that of Peace Dam exceeds 210 meters above sea level. When the North "abnormally" continues to store water in the Hwanggang or Imnam dams, the attention warning is also issued.
In this case, the land ministry, and K-water monitor rainfall and water levels, while the Ministries of National Defense and Unification, and the National Intelligence Service monitor any troop movements in the North.
They issue the "caution" warning when the water levels at the Pilseung Bridge exceeds 12 meters, and that of the Peace Dam exceeds 246.6 meters. This stage is also issued when the North begins to repair damage to its dams, or when it appears to plant explosives in downstream from them.
In this case, the land ministry operates a situation room and begins to prepare measures to repair any possible damage. The unification ministry tries to contact the North through dialogue channels, while the defense ministry strengthens security at guard and observation positions along the border.
The government issues an "alert" warning when rivers are expected to overflow their banks, or when the North withdraws its military units from the downstream regions of the dams.
In this case, the land ministry begins to examine the possibility of the collapse of the North's dams and, if necessary, preemptively discharges water from Seoul's dams in the downstream areas of the Imjin and Bukhan rivers to create capacity for the overflow. K-water broadcasts a warning to residents living in near the rivers advising them to evacuate.
A "serious" warning is issued when the North's dams collapse or the government secures intelligence that it is moving to destroy them.
In this case, the government establishes a control office led by the land minister to cope with the disaster, while the unification ministry dispatches officials to hold talks with the North.
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