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Mon, August 15, 2022 | 19:43
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N. Korea discharges water from dam without notice
北 황강댐 방류하면 南 필승교까지 얼마나 걸리나
Posted : 2016-07-06 17:18
Updated : 2016-07-06 20:53
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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
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

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
North Korea discharged water from its border dam on the Imjin River without notifying South Korea of the release in breach of a previous agreement, military officials said Wednesday.

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.

NK discharges water from border dam without notice
2016-05-18 17:13  |  National

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.




北 황강댐 방류하면 南 필승교까지 얼마나 걸리나

수량·유역면적 등에 따라 달라…2013년 7월에는 12시간 남짓 걸려

6일 오전 6시 북한이 황강댐을 무단 방류한 것으로 당국이 확인했지만 오후 5시 현재 42.3㎞ 떨어진 필승교 횡산수위국 수위에는 변화가 없어 궁금증을 자아내고 있다.

황강댐에서 방류한 물이 필승교까지 도착하는 데 걸리는 시간은 유역의 면적과 상황, 방류량에 따라 달라진다.

유역 면적이 좁으면 좁을수록, 방류량이 많으면 많을수록 빨리 도착한다.

국토교통부는 황강댐 방류량이 초당 500t이면 황강댐 물이 필승교 10.5㎞ 하류 군남댐까지 도달하는 데 약 9시간, 방류량이 초당 5천t이면 약 5시간 걸릴 것으로 내다봤다.

2013년 7월 10일 북한이 '11일 0시 황강댐 방류'를 사전 통보했을 때 상황은 어떠했을까?

당시 북한이 통보대로 0시에 방류했다고 가정했을 때 방류한 물이 필승교에 도착하는 데 12시간 남짓 걸렸다.

2013년 7월 11일 횡산수위국 수위는 오전 0시부터 낮 12시 10분까지 0.89m를 유지하다 12시 20분 0.90m로 상승하면서 꾸준히 증가했다.

6시간 뒤인 오후 6시 20분 2.03m, 오후 8시 20분 3.06m, 오후 9시 50분 4.06m, 다음날인 12일 0시 30분 5.01m로 상승했다. 이어 12일 오전 8시 6.01m, 10시 20분 7.04m를 넘어선 뒤 오전 11시 30분 경계단계인 7.51m를 돌파했다.

횡산수위국 수위는 이후에도 계속 증가해 낮 12시 30분 8.03m, 오후 7시 40분 9.15m로 정점을 찍었다. 수위는 이후 점차 낮아졌다.

황강댐 방류가 필승교와 군남댐 수위에 이틀 가까이 영향을 미친 셈이다.

이번의 경우, 방류량이 적어 유속이 느려져 필승교 수위에 더 늦게 영향을 미칠 수도 있다. 그러나 2013년 사례로 볼 때 아직 방류량을 추정하거나 안심할 단계는 아니다.

이에 따라 군부대와 한국수자원공사, 연천군 등 지자체는 임진강 수위변화를 예의주시하며 비상 대비태세를 유지하고 있다. (연합뉴스)
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