Peace Dam

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Peace Dam

The Peace Dam is a barrier on the Bukhan River in Hwacheon County, Gangwon Province, South Korea. It was built to prevent catastrophic flooding if North Korea’s Imnam Dam were to fail or release water.

Construction began in 1987 and the dam opened in 2005. It is not meant to store water; it is a preventive structure to manage floods.

Dimensions and capacity: The dam is about 601 meters long and 125 meters tall, and it can hold up to 2.61 billion tons of water. The project cost about $429 million.

Background: The dam was built after fears about the Imnam Dam’s safety. Construction was paused and later resumed after satellite photos in 2002 showed cracks in Imnam Dam. In September 2005, North Korea released a large amount of water, causing flooding just south of the border.