By Kim So-hyun

Seoul is considering taking legal action against North Korea for its release of water from a dam without prior notice, officials said yesterday.

"We plan to announce the results of our discussions with related ministries as early as tomorrow," Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said at a press briefing.

The unannounced discharge of some 40 million tons of water down the Imjin River killed six South Koreans who had been camping in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Sunday.

The incident led to news reports on how ill prepared the South Korean government was for situations like this.

"(The North's water release) seems to have violated international customary law," a Foreign Ministry official said yesterday on condition of anonymity.

"International disputes are often arbitrated based on customary law. (Such disputes) can be brought to the International Court of Justice or a third country for mediation."

International customary law on use of rivers is aimed at preventing the discharge of pollutants, so it may not apply to North Korea's recent release of water, he said.

"But the fact that it gave no prior notice could be a problem."

Another high-ranking official of the Foreign Ministry said later in the day that bringing the case to the international court would be unlikely.

"Both sides of the dispute would have to agree in order to file a suit to the international court, which would be impossible in this case," he said.

The South Korean government initially looked into the United Nations' Convention on the law of the non-navigational uses of international watercourses, adopted in 1997 and ratified by 17 countries.

South and North Korea never signed it. The treaty is yet to take effect.

Nevertheless, noting that the convention was a codified version of international customary law, "related ministries are reviewing whether the North Korean act infringed on international law," Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said at a daily press briefing.

The government reportedly considered accusing North Korea of violating article 7 of the U.N. convention, which requires that states "take all appropriate measures to prevent the causing of significant harm" to other states sharing an international watercourse.

"The government would be able to define our position after reviewing whether an applicable international treaty exists, whether South and North Koreas ratified it and the treaty's effectiveness," Chun said yesterday.

The South Korean government and politicians continued to demand an "apology and sufficient explanation" from Pyongyang for the deadly discharge of water.

The Unification Ministry said it was open to talks with North Korea on the prevention of such flooding disasters.

An apology from the North was not necessarily a pre-condition for Seoul to propose talks, the ministry spokesman said in response to reporters' questions.

sophie@heraldm.com

--The Korea Herald