N. Korea remains unresponsive to Seoul's request for prior notice on dam water discharge
This Aug. 3, 2020 file photo shows water being discharged from a dam in the border county of Yeoncheon, 60 kilometers north of Seoul. Yonhap
North Korea has not responded to South Korea's request for prior notice should it release water from its border dams to minimize damage from heavy rains, Seoul's unification ministry said Friday.
Referring to an inter-Korean agreement on dam water discharge, the ministry publicly made the request in late June as the annual monsoon season arrived on the Korean Peninsula.
The ministry made the request through the press, as Pyongyang has remained unresponsive to daily routine calls via an inter-Korean liaison communication channel since April.
"The government requested North Korea on June 30 to give prior notice in case it releases dam water but there has not been any response so far," Lee Hyo-jung, the ministry's deputy spokesperson, told reporters.
The ministry will use other channels, such as the press or a hotline between the United Nations Command and North Korea's military, to cope with unexpected circumstances should they occur, Lee said.
Under the agreement signed in October 2009, the North agreed to notify the South in advance of its plan to release dam water, following an accident that killed six South Koreans after the North discharged water from Hwanggang Dam without notice.
But the recalcitrant state pushed ahead with water release last year, without notifying the South.
Heavy rains have pummeled South Korea this week, leaving some 4,000 households in Seoul without electricity and forcing 134 people nationwide to evacuate. The wider capital area is expected to experience additional downpours of up to 50 millimeters per hour. (Yonhap)