North Korea releases border dam water without prior notice

North Korea on Monday discharged water from a border dam without notifying South Korea in advance, ahead of possible torrential downpours in the communist state, government sources said.

The North partially opened the floodgates of Hwanggang Dam on the western inter-Korean border and sent water into the Imjin River, a move that put authorities here on alert against the potential rise in water levels in the South.

The water discharge came as the North’s official Korean Central News Agency reported that “special”

heavy rain warnings had been issued for Pyongan, Hwanghae and Jagang Provinces, Kaesong and other parts of the country.

The South’s military and intelligence authorities are known to have detected signs of the North opening the floodgates through various monitoring tools, as the North did not notify the South of the move with inter-Korean military communication lines cut off.

The military authorities here predicted that the North could additionally open floodgates of the dam.