SEOUL: North Korea appears to have deliberately opened a dam that sent water surging down a river into

South Korea, a top South Korean official said today, but he stopped short of calling it an attack.

Six South Koreans camping and fishing at the river were swept to their deaths last weekend after North Korea unleashed an estimated 40 million tonnes of water from a new dam into a river at the border without providing prior notice.

The North acknowledged the

release on Monday, saying water level were too high. Stopping short of an apology, Pyongyang said it would warn Seoul of similar releases in the future.

South Korean officials rejected the explanation and urged Pyongyang to apologise for the sudden and deadly flooding. Some officials questioned North Korea’s claim of high water levels, noting there had been little rain in areas north of Imjin River in the past week. Unification Minister

Hyun In-taek, who is in charge of relations with North Korea, told

lawmakers today that it appeared North Korea “intentionally” discharged the water. Hyun did not imply the release was meant as an attack, ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo later said.

Meanwhile, rescuers recovered three more bodies today, Gyeonggi province senior fire official Kang Kun-young said. Three others were found earlier in the week.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said during a regular Cabinet meeting on Tuesday

that his heart was “aching because six innocent people were lost,”

his office said. He ordered officials to work out how to prevent a

recurrence.

To prevent flooding, South Korea has been building two dams in the area, scheduled to be completed by 2011 and 2012. On Monday, the Land Ministry said in a statement it will speed up construction of the first dam by one year in the wake of the flooding.