Yesterday, the North Korean authorities informed South Korea of plans to open the Imnam Dam (known in South Korea as the Geumgangsan Dam) at around 6PM the same day in accordance with rising rainy season water levels. The message was conveyed via the inter-Korean communications line at Panmunjom.
According to a Ministry of Unification official, the North Korean message, which was received in the afternoon, was subsequently conveyed to the appropriate authorities and measures taken to avoid any difficulties that might have arisen.
This is the third time the North Korean authorities have reported plans to release the waters behind the 710m wide and 121.5m high dam, following similar notifications in 2002 and 2004.
North Korea sometimes does not report plans to open upstream dams that carry a downstream risk of harm inside South Korea, however. Most notably, this was the case for the Imnam Dam in 2002 and Hwanggang Dam in 2009. Six people who had been camping on the banks of the Imjin River were swept away to their deaths in the latter incident.
Yesterday’s message follows a similar notification issued on the 10th pertaining to the opening of the Hwanggang Dam, part of the Yeseon River Power Plant.
