North Korea Remains Silent for Second Day on Demand for 'Advance Notice of Dam Discharge'

No Special Remarks During Start and End of Work Calls

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] North Korea has not responded for two days to South Korea's request to "notify in advance" if it releases water from the Hwanggang Dam reservoir on the upper Imjin River.

According to the Ministry of Unification on the 29th, North Korea responded normally to the inter-Korean joint liaison office's start and end calls at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. that day, but no other remarks were confirmed.

The Ministry of Unification conveyed its intention to send a notification stating, "According to the inter-Korean agreement, we request that the North notify us in advance when releasing water from dams in North Korean waters," during a call at the inter-Korean liaison office around 4 p.m. the previous day, but the North did not clearly express whether it had received it.

At the same time, the government verbally notified its position on the Hwanggang Dam water release issue during the closing call on the West Sea military communication line, but North Korea reportedly showed no particular response then either. Since the 27th, the rainy season has begun in earnest in North Korea, raising concerns that it might unilaterally open the sluice gates of the Hwanggang Dam (called Yesonggang Dam in North Korea) and others, as in the past.

The Hwanggang Dam is a medium-sized dam on the upper Imjin River in North Korea, with a total reservoir capacity of 350 million tons, about five times that of South Korea's Gunam Lake Control Dam (total capacity 71.6 million tons). Opening the sluice gates would rapidly raise the water levels at Pilsunggyo Bridge, the northernmost point of the Imjin River, and Gunam Dam.

If North Korea releases a large amount of water from the Hwanggang Dam without prior notice, significant damage could occur in the Yeoncheon and Paju areas of Gyeonggi Province located downstream of the Imjin River. In September 2009, six South Korean citizens died due to water release from North Korea's Hwanggang Dam.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.