The Ministry of Environment announced that North Korea began releasing water from the Hwanggang Dam on the upper Imjin River on the morning of the 9th.
The Ministry of Environment identified the widening of the river downstream of the Hwanggang Dam through satellite images and judged that water was being released, and conveyed the related information to military units and local governments.
Satellite imaging to determine whether water is being released from the Hwanggang Dam is conducted twice a day, and analysis of the afternoon images also showed that the release was continuing.
However, the Ministry of Environment estimates that the amount of water being released is not large.
If 500 tons of water per second are discharged from the Hwanggang Dam, it takes about 9 hours for the water to reach Pilsunggyo Bridge, the northernmost point of the Imjin River on the South Korean side. However, the water level and flow rate at Pilsunggyo Bridge have remained steady at 0.48 meters and approximately 30 cubic meters per second, respectively.
Therefore, the Ministry of Environment estimates that the discharge from the Hwanggang Dam is far less than 500 tons per second.
It is known that North Korea did not provide prior notice of the water release from the Hwanggang Dam. North Korea only provided prior notice of releases until 2013.
Although the government requests prior notice every year, North Korea has not complied. The Imjin River is a shared river between South and North Korea. Based on watershed area, 63% belongs to North Korea, and based on length, 67% is in North Korea.
Before the completion of the Gunam Dam on the upper Imjin River in the South (June 2011), in 2009, North Korea released water without permission from the Hwanggang Dam on the upper Imjin River, causing casualties downstream.
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