Tag: dams

Here is another example of a potential North Korean gray zone attack against South Korea. They have done these water releases before, sometimes with deadly results:

North Korea appears to have discharged a “considerable” amount of water from the upstream of its dam near the inter-Korean border, Seoul’s environment ministry said Wednesday.

Satellite imagery taken at 3 p.m. showed the downstream of the Imjin River had significantly broadened in width, according to the ministry.

The water level of the South Korea’s northernmost Pilseung Bridge on the Imjin River had reached 1 meter as of 5 p.m., up from 0.3 meter recorded three hours before.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

An Inter-Korean agreement from 2009 stated that the North Koreans are supposed to notify the South when they release flood waters from their dam so they can warn residents along the Imjim River. Here is yet another agreement the Kim regime has decided to not abide by:

North Korea appears to have released water from a dam near the inter-Korean border, while remaining unresponsive to Seoul’s request for prior notice, a South Korean government official Thursday.

“It is presumed that North Korea has recently opened the floodgates of Hwanggang Dam,” the unification ministry official told reporters amid reports that the impoverished North is suffering torrential rains in many parts of the country.

It is regrettable that the North did not give any prior notice before releasing dam water near the inter-Korean border despite Seoul’s request for such notice, the official added.

Earlier in the day, an informed military source said the reclusive neighbor appears to have discharged dam water, while authorities here have been on high alert. The North has discharged dam water without notifying the South in advance in the past, endangering the safety of local residents. 

The source, however, added the water levels of the Imjin River are currently stable, staying below 3 meters. 

It usually takes four to five hours for water released from the dam located at the upper part of the Imjin River to reach the Gunnam Dam in the South’s border town of Yeoncheon, 62 kilometers north of Seoul. The distance between the two dams is around 56 kilometers.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

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)

This just shows that even with all the sanctions on North Korea they still have enough money to complete large construction projects like this:

North Korea has completed the construction of its third hydropower station near its border with China, Pyongyang’s state media reported Saturday, in its latest effort to tackle a power shortage following heavy sanctions on the reclusive state.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un accompanied senior officials to visit the hydropower station built by a river near Mount Paektu in Paekam, Yangang Province bordering China, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. It did not provide the exact date of his visit.

Kim praised workers for finishing construction four months ahead of schedule to present it to the Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), slated for May, the report said.

Two other power plants were built near the border area, but cracks shown shortly after opening the facilities in early October raised criticisms of its shoddy construction.

Completing three hydropower stations in a year was to “hit hard the heads of the U.S. imperialists and their followers hell-bent on their moves to ratchet up sanctions against the DPRK and stifle it on the principle of self-reliance and self-development,” the KCNA said in an English-language report.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.