'Engineering gem' in North to be safer

The North Korean government told the South officially Friday that it will lower the level of water behind the Geumgangsan dam in southeastern North Korea.

The dam has been criticized by the South as unsafe; two long, deep cracks were captured in satellite pictures which Seoul publicized recently.

North Korean officials at the truce village of Panmunjeom told their counterparts in the South Korean delegation there, "In preparation for the monsoon season, we will drain out some of the water behind the dam." Pyeongyang's plan, according to officials in Seoul who described the call to reporters, is to steadily lower the water level beginning on Monday.

According to the Land and Environment Protection Ministry of North Korea, lowering the level of water is completely unconnected with the questions Seoul has raised about the safety of the dam. The Pyeongyang ministry said it was giving advance notice of the plan to their "brotherly compatriots" in a "spirit of humanitarianism."

The Northern officials repeated on the phone their frequent contention that the dam and the power generation facility there are the "creation of our indigenous engineering technology," second to none in the world. "The dam's safety and stability are guaranteed," they have said repeatedly in rejecting Seoul's efforts to discuss the structure's safety.

South Korean officials said the North Korean measure will ease fears about the dam's safety considerably. Nonetheless, the South will continue its work to reinforce the Peace Dam, downstream on the Bukhan River from the suspect North Korean dam.

by Lee Young-jong