Recent satellite imagery has shown that the amount of water in a North Korean dam located near the inter-Korean border is almost at full capacity.

According to the satellite images that KBS acquired from South Korea’s multi-purpose Satellite Arirang on Sunday, the North’s Hwanggang Dam was filled with water to the brim, raising concerns over potential damages in South Korea from a sudden discharge of water.

An official of South Korea’s Korea Water Resources Development Corporation(K-Water) said the height of the water inside the Hwanggam Dam has risen to 108 meters, nearing the maximum storage capacity of 114 meters for the dam.

The dam is located only 46 kilometers from the Military Demarcation Line, and 56 kilometers from South Korea’s Gunnam Dam.

If the North releases water from the Hwanggang Dam at 500 tons per second, it will only take 30 minutes for water to pass via the Imjin River from the demarcation line to the Gunnam Dam.

The Gunnam Dam can accommodate 71-million tons of water, or only a fifth of Hwanggang Dam’s 350 million tons, leaving the South Korean dam vulnerable to a sudden release of water from the North.

A K-Water official said the Imjin River's high water velocity can make situations more dangerous, adding that officials in charge of the Gunnam Dam are working in emergency mode around-the-clock.

In September 2009, six South Korean campers were killed when North Korea released large amounts of water into the Imjin River without prior notice.

The North has continued to discharge water from the dam on several occasions without informing the South, including twice last month when South Korean fishermen sustained damages to their fishing equipment in the mouth of the Imjin River.