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N Korean dam causes concern

North Korea has almost completed a major dam above its heavily fortified border with South Korea, causing concern about a water shortage in parts of the South, officials in Seoul said yesterday.

The construction of Hwanggang Dam, which began in 2002, is 95 percent complete, the South’s unification ministry said.

The dam on the Imjin river which flows through both countries is 40km north of one of the most sensitive border areas, at Yeoncheon 50km north of Seoul.

The area was the route for North Korea’s invasion which sparked off the 1950-1953 war.

“North Korea is expected to complete work on the dam in August or September,” ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyoun said.

He expressed concern that residents in the western border area could suffer severe drought when the dam is completed.

Government data showed it would cause an annual water shortage of 120 million tonnes in South Korea, the spokesman said.

Media reports say the dam and four existing smaller ones will help North Korea control 20 percent of water in the river.

“North Korea has ignored our repeated requests to solve this issue through dialogue, saying only the dam is aimed at supplying water for agriculture and drinking,” spokesman Kim said.

Meanwhile, a team of US officials led by a State Department nuclear envoy entered North Korea yesterday to discuss Pyongyang’s declaration of its nuclear activities under a six-country disarmament deal.

US diplomat Sung Kim said upon arriving in the South on Monday his team would will meet with North Korean nuclear experts and diplomats in the three days they remain in the country.

Kim and his team entered the North through the heavily fortified border separating the two Koreas, officials said.
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