SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- North Korea appears to be releasing water from a dam near the inter-Korean border without giving prior notice to the South, a South Korean government official said Monday, as the North is drenched by heavy downpours. "As rain has fallen heavily in North Korea, the North is repeatedly opening and closing the floodgates of Hwanggang Dam," the unification ministry official said. "It seems (the North) is adjusting the Hwanggang Dam's water level based on the rainfall situation." The official said there was no prior notification from the North on the move. Under an inter-Korean agreement signed in October 2009, the North is supposed to notify the South in advance of its plans to release dam water. On June 28, the unification ministry made a public request to the North to notify the South in advance if it discharges dam water, citing possible damage it could cause in the South. The request, however, has gone unanswered, with the North apparently re

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(ATTN: ADDS info on rainfall in Seoul) SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- Up to 170 millimeters of rain battered the country's central region, including the capital area, on Monday, the weather agency said, flooding homes, buildings and other properties. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) issued heavy rain watches earlier in the morning across the capital and the western port city of Incheon as well as northern parts of Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul and northern Gangwon Province. Such advisories are issued when precipitation is predicted to surpass 60 millimeters in a span of three hours or 110 mm in 12 hours. In Yeoncheon, 62 kilometers north of Seoul, 171 mm of rain had fallen as of 3 p.m., as well as 87.9 mm in Incheon, the KMA said. In Seoul, about 60 mm of rain fell, while there was 78.5 mm of rain in Cheorwon, about 71 kilometers northeast of Seoul. Heavy downpours hit Seoul especially later in the day, causing flooding and blackouts in some reg

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SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Yonhap) -- The heaviest rainfall in 80 years has pounded Seoul and surrounding regions, leaving seven people dead and six others missing, as well as flooding homes, vehicles, buildings and subway stations, officials said Tuesday. Parts of Seoul, the western port city of Incheon and Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul received heavy rains of over 100 millimeters per hour Monday night, with per-hour precipitation in Seoul's Dongjak district surpassing 141.5 mm at one point, the highest downpour per hour since 1942. The downpours left five people dead and four others missing in Seoul, while in Gyeonggi Province, two had died and two others had gone missing as of 6 a.m., according to the government. Nine more people sustained injuries. pbr@yna.co.kr

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(ATTN: CHANGES slug, headline, lead, photos; UPDATES with more info throughout) SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- Up to 170 millimeters of rain battered the country's central region, including the capital area, on Monday, the weather agency said, flooding homes, buildings and other properties. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) issued heavy rain watches earlier in the morning across the capital and the western port city of Incheon as well as northern parts of Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul and northern Gangwon Province. Such advisories are issued when precipitation is predicted to surpass 60 millimeters in a span of three hours or 110 mm in 12 hours. In Yeoncheon, 62 kilometers north of Seoul, 171 mm of rain had fallen as of 3 p.m., as well as 87.9 mm in Incheon, the KMA said. In Seoul, about 60 mm of rain fell, while there was 78.5 mm of rain in Cheorwon, about 71 kilometers northeast of Seoul. Casualties were not reported in those areas, but property

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(ATTN: UPDATES with details throughout; ADDS photo at bottom) By Park Boram SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Yonhap) -- The heaviest rainfall in 80 years has pounded Seoul and surrounding regions, leaving seven people dead and six others missing, as well as flooding homes, vehicles, buildings and subway stations, officials said Tuesday. Parts of Seoul, the western port city of Incheon and Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul received heavy rains of over 100 millimeters per hour Monday night, with per-hour precipitation in Seoul's Dongjak district surpassing 141.5 mm at one point, the highest downpour per hour since 1942. The downpours left five people dead and four others missing in Seoul, while in Gyeonggi Province, two had died and two others had gone missing as of 6 a.m., according to the government. Nine people sustained injuries in Gyeonggi Province and 163 people from 107 households in the capital area were left homeless and took shelter in schools and other public facilities.

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(ATTN: UPDATES with details, photos from 4th para) SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Yonhap) -- The heaviest rainfall in 80 years has pounded Seoul and surrounding regions, leaving seven people dead and six others missing, as well as flooding homes, vehicles, buildings and subway stations, officials said Tuesday. Parts of Seoul, the western port city of Incheon and Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul received heavy rains of over 100 millimeters per hour Monday night, with per-hour precipitation in Seoul's Dongjak district surpassing 141.5 mm at one point, the highest downpour per hour since 1942. The downpours left five people dead and four others missing in Seoul, while in Gyeonggi Province, two had died and two others had gone missing as of 6 a.m., according to the government. Nine people sustained injuries in Gyeonggi Province and 163 people from 107 households in the capital area were left homeless and took shelter in schools and other public facilities. In Seoul's Gwanak distr

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(ATTN: UPDATES with latest info throughout) By Park Boram SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Yonhap) -- The heaviest rainfall in 80 years has pounded Seoul and surrounding regions, leaving eight people dead and six others missing, as well as flooding homes, vehicles, buildings and subway stations, officials said Tuesday. Parts of Seoul, the western port city of Incheon and Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul received heavy rains of over 100 millimeters per hour Monday night, with per-hour precipitation in Seoul's Dongjak district surpassing 141.5 mm at one point, the highest downpour per hour since 1942. The Korea Meteorological Administration said up to 300 mm of more rain is forecast for the capital area through Thursday, with southern Gyeonggi Province likely to see rains surpassing 350 mm. The downpours left five people dead and four others missing in Seoul, while in Gyeonggi Province, three had died and two others had gone missing as of 11 a.m., according to the government. Ni

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(ATTN: UPDATES first 3 paras; ADDS more info) SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- Heavy downpours battered the country's central region, including the capital area, on Monday, flooding homes, roads, buildings and other properties. Southern Seoul received more than 100 mm per hour, forcing sections of the subway to halt, and causing blackouts and residents in low-lying areas to flee for safety. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo ordered relevant agencies to stay alert and do their best to prevent causalities and property damage in high-risk areas. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) issued heavy rain watches across the capital and the western port city of Incheon as well as northern parts of Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul and northern Gangwon Province. Such advisories are issued when precipitation is predicted to surpass 60 millimeters in a span of three hours or 110 mm in 12 hours. In Yeoncheon, 62 kilometers north of Seoul, 171 mm of rain had fallen as of 3

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(ATTN: UPDATES paras 6-7 with minister's quotes; REPLACES photo) SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Yonhap) -- Education Minister Park Soon-ae offered to resign Monday, just 34 days after taking office, amid criticism she mishandled key school policy proposals, such as lowering the elementary school entry age. Park has been under pressure to step down after many teachers and parents protested strongly against lowering the school entry age by one year to 5. She has been criticized for announcing the proposal without sufficient preparations, such as collecting public opinion. Her ministry had also unveiled a plan to abolish foreign language high schools, only to retract it days later. Should President Yoon Suk-yeol accept the resignation, Park will be the first Cabinet minister to step down since Yoon took office in May. A professor at Seoul National University's graduate school of public administration, Park took office on July 5 as education minister, doubling as deputy prime minister for social

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(ATTN: ADDS details in paras 4, 7-11, photo) SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's new COVID-19 cases jumped to a nearly four-month high Tuesday amid a resurgence of infections driven by a highly infectious omicron subvariant. The country added 149,897 new COVID-19 infections, the highest since April 13 when the tally hit 195,387, bringing the total caseload to 20,694,239, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The tally includes 588 cases from overseas. Tuesday's figure is up from 55,292 the previous day and 111,785 from a week earlier. The number of cases tends to fall on Mondays, due to fewer tests, and rebound throughout the weekdays. The number of seriously ill patients also rose to 364, up from 324 the previous day. The KDCA reported 40 new deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 25,332. The fatality rate was 0.12 percent. Daily COVID-19 cases have trended downward after peaking at around 620,000 in mid-March. But since

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