The South Korean government has expressed its regret after North Korea presumably discharged water from a dam near the inter-Korean border without notification. 

A unification ministry official told reporters on Thursday that recent torrential rains likely prompted North Korea to open the floodgates of the Hwanggang Dam on the Imjin River, which flows into the sea on South Korea’s west coast.

The official said the government decided to express its regret to reporters after assessing that it would not be appropriate to convey its stance via the inter-Korean liaison office as the North has yet to accept any of the South Korean government’s messages.  

Asked when the North likely discharged water from the dam, the official said it’s hard to pinpoint the exact time, but the government believes the discharge happened after 4 p.m. Thursday which is when Seoul asked Pyongyang to give notification before releasing water from its reservoirs.