Seoul Protests to NK Over Deadly Flood

South Korea issued a strong protest against North Korea Monday after the North released a wall of water from an upstream dam without warning, creating a flash flood that swept away six people south of the border, AFP reported Monday.

The floodwaters hit five campers and a fishermen early Sunday after the North released water into the Imjin River that crosses the frontier, briefly swelling it to twice its normal depth.

"The government has expressed regret that a North Korean dam along the Imjin River released water yesterday without prior notice and caused big damage, including six of our citizens going missing," the Unification Ministry was quoted as saying.

Seoul demanded an explanation and called on its neighbor to give prior warning the next time it releases dam water.

The incident could cast a new shadow over relations that had lately been improving after more than a year of tensions. The North last month freed five South Korean detainees, eased border curbs and sent envoys for talks with President Lee Myung-bak.

Seoul's maritime ministry said 40 million cubic meters (52 million cubic yards) of water was released for unknown reasons.

Some 2,600 soldiers and police were mobilized Monday to search for the missing. Police said three bodies had been recovered some miles (kilometres) downstream and a search was continuing for the other three.

Police are also investigating whether there was any negligence by Seoul officials in charge of issuing flood alerts.

On Sunday they found the body of a North Korean boy aged four or five which apparently drifted down river following the same incident. The ruling Grand National Party demanded an apology.

"Whatever the reason was, it was an unpardonable criminal act," the party said in a strongly worded statement.

Previous discharges from the dams have damaged fish farms and riverside areas in Yeoncheon County, 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Seoul, but Sunday's was the first to claim any lives. "We have yet to identify it as an attack by flooding," said defense ministry spokesman Won Tae-Jae, adding no unusual activity had been detected at the North's Hwanggang Dam before the discharge.