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| China-Japan-Koreas | |
| Norks Blame 'Rising Water Levels' for Dam Discharge | |
| 2009-09-08 | |
| North Korea on Monday claimed a sudden massive discharge of water from an Imjin River dam that led to flash floods on the South Korean side of the border was occasioned by "rising water levels" at the dam. Six campers were swept away in the floods, but the North offered no apology. An intelligence officer said the explanation was "unconvincing" since about 300-400 mm of rain fell in the upper reaches of the Imjin River in early July, but there has been no record of more than 200 mm of rainfall there in recent days.
The minister of land, transport and maritime affairs sent a message to the North at around 11 a.m. on Monday, asking for an explanation but stopped short of demanding an apology. Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said, "We have no accurate information yet to judge" if North Korea intentionally discharged the dam water. The North Korean message came back at about 5 p.m. in the name of an unidentified "concerned agency." "To prevent damage to the lower reaches of the Imjin River from suffering damage, we will notify the South in advance if we discharge massive amounts of water in the future," it said. Military authorities have recovered three of the bodies of the six missing campers from the Imjin River. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Hey, the best summer tubing is during TVA power plant generator runs! |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-09-08 08:14 |