A number of South Korean analysts and lawmakers have suggested that last weekend’s “Imjin River Incident” was the result of an intentional discharge from the dam.
Hyun In Taek, South Korea’s Minister of Unification, told a meeting of the Diplomacy, Commerce and Unification Committee of the National Assembly on Wednesday, “We believe that North Korea did it intentionally. The Ministry is examining what intentions North Korea had.”
The Minister pointed out that North Korea reported in its correspondence sent on the 7th that they “discharged water from the dam due to a rise in the water level,” and that the deaths are therefore a result of North Korea’s “intentional discharge.”
According to South Korean military and intelligence authorities, there are no design or technological defects like cracks obvious from satellite picture analysis of the Hwangkang Dam, which was only completed in February of this year, or the April 5 Dam, located further upstream.
Additionally, the North’s explanation, that it was a discharge due to a rise in the water level in the Hwangkang Dam, was proven to be untrue as result of rainfall analysis for Tosan, North Hwanghae Provice, the location of the dam, which recorded less than 0.2 millimeters between the 1st and 6th of this month.
Moreover, the timing of dam discharges is generally decided by the North Korean military authorities, and such decisions ought not to be conducted without orders from the National Defense Commission, according to North Korean administrative custom.
Meanwhile, the South Korean administration has been waiting patiently for the North’s reaction while taking account of all kinds of possibilities including “water attack,” because the incident will necessarily have an effect on inter-Korean relations, which had begun to thaw.
President Lee Myung Bak, who emphasizes a principled policy towards North Korea, instructed his Cabinet to “verify correctly the cause and prepare measures so that such an incident cannot recur.”
Regardless of North Korea’s reaction, the South’s military authorities plan to reinforce patrols and monitoring of the regions downstream of North Korean dams. The military will expand the number of reconnaissance flights of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and the Geumgang reconnaissance plane over the region.
Additionally, the military authorities will create a system by which the military immediately reports incidents like this water attack or incursions across the Northern Limit Line to local government organizations.
