At this point anyone living along the Imjim River should avoid it during heavy rain periods because the North Koreans are likely going to flood the river with no notification:
This file photo taken June 28, 2022, shows water gushing out of the floodgates of the Gunnam Dam on the Imjin River, which runs across the inter-Korean border in the South Korean border town of Yeoncheon, north of Seoul. The dam, built in 2010, was designed to deal with flash floods from North Korea. (Yonhap)
North Korea appears to be releasing water from a dam near the inter-Korean border without giving prior notice to the South, a South Korean government official said Monday, as the North is drenched by heavy downpours.
“As rain has fallen heavily in North Korea, the North is repeatedly opening and closing the floodgates of Hwanggang Dam,” the unification ministry official said. “It seems (the North) is adjusting the Hwanggang Dam’s water level based on the rainfall situation.”
The official said there was no prior notification from the North on the move.
Under an inter-Korean agreement signed in October 2009, the North is supposed to notify the South in advance of its plans to release dam water.
Soyanggang Dam in Chuncheon, east of Seoul, opens its gates to discharge water on Aug. 25, 2017, for the first time in six years, after heavy rain fell in the area earlier in the week. (Yonhap)
It doesn’t appear to be an asymmetric attack like the North Koreans have done before, but instead just a response to the heavy rains that have hit the peninsula:
North Korea discharged water from a dam near the border with South Korea Wednesday, prompting the South to evacuate border-area residents for fears of flooding.
“It seems that North Korea discharged water from Hwanggang Dam at around 6 a.m.,” a South Korean military official said. “North Korea opened the floodgates of the dam bit by bit from early morning.”
The North did not notify the South of the dam water discharge in advance despite their previous agreement to do so, the official said.
Still, Seoul ruled out the possibility that the sudden water release has anything to do with flooding attacks, he added.
The water level at the North Korean dam had been detected to have risen to full capacity with the area having massive rainfalls in recent weeks.
Six South Koreans were killed in September 2009 after North Korea released a massive amount of water from the border dam without prior warning. [Yonhap]
