Posted on 05/25/2004 7:29:57 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
North Korean Security Believes Ryongchon Explosion an Assassination Attempt
According to a source, North Korea's State Safety & Security Agency concluded that the massive explosion that occurred in the North Korean city of Ryongchon on April 22 had been conspired by anti-North Korean government forces to harm North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. A North Korean official who was recently on his business trip to China said, “The North Korean National Security Agency has investigated the incident since it took place and concluded that rebellious forces had plotted the explosions targeting the exclusive train of Kim Jong-il. The security agency, in particular, gained evidence that cell phones had been used in triggering the explosion and reported to the North Korean leader that the use of cell phones should be banned for the sake of the leader’s safety, the official said.
Accordingly, it was learned that North Korea prohibited the use of cell phones across the nation on May 19.
An officer working with a North Korean border guard unit, which is in charge of guarding the border area between the North and China, said in a phone call with this writer that the use of cell phones was banned in Pyongyang first on May 19, and then prohibited in other regions on May 20.
A North Korea defector who crossed the border a few days ago said, “It doesn’t seem to be a temporary measure, because even handsets have been conscripted following the cell phone use ban.” “The Postal Service, which manages the cell phone business, has unilaterally conscripted handsets without offering any compensations. It's a typical example of a dictatorial state,” the defector pointed out.
North Korea began to use European-type GSM phones in August 2002 and started cell phone service in Najin and Sunbong, the North Korean special economic areas, starting November that year. However, in areas bordering China, an increasing number of North Korean people have already used cell phones with handsets made in China since the end of 1990s.
Yeah, that sounded funny but what I meant was people who can tell the difference between a 500,2,000 or a 5,000lb JDAM. This was no improvised explosive lol...
Koizumi and his company saw Kim Jong-il. So credible eyewitness account is available, too.
What happened is that this story's file exists on Chosun's website, but it is no longer on the list of English articles. Quite weird. I check again just before writing this reply to you, and it is there. Somebody made it virtually impossible to find it.
Interesting. I can't search hangul here, but I'd be interested to see what hits come up on collateral Korean web news sites. I was skimming through some bulletin boards last night though, and didn't see anything.
One of many rumors... doesn't seem to me the assassination scenario gells well with the Syrian corpses scenario.
Have you read "Operations" (Jak-jun), which came out this year??? -- can't remember the author's name, but can find find it for you.....
BTW -- you're right on the lack of a Korean version of this -- no one I know can find on Choson or elsewhere....
I am sure a cell phone can be used to trigger an explosive without a tower. It emits radio waves. You just have to have a receiver of the right frequency. But they why use the cell phones? Maybe it's cheaper.
I think it's Eskimo soup.
oh yeah!
Based on what has been disclosed to date, the damage was caused by a detonation of at least 10-20 tons of explosive, and that means it was a large shipment of explosive material, and a shipment, that from all available information, was destined for Syria.
There are published reports that Syrian technicians were observed in the area, prior to the explosion, wearing chemical protective gear, so based on that, one could eliminate many of the more common types of explosives.
The only thing that fits the available evidence (that I can think of) is a shipment of ethylene oxide, the explosive used in so-called fuel-air bombs. If the explosive was a 20 ton shipment of EO, that would explain the damage seen, the ease of covert detonation, the presence of the Syrians, the chemical protective gear, and the intense secrecy surrounding the exact nature of the explosive.
An additional tidbit of information is that close scrutiny of before and after satellite photos reveals that the epicenter of the blast was most likely in a nearby warehouse facility, rather than in the railway cars.
--Boot Hill
Chungguk=Zhongguo=Central Kingdom=China
I bet not. The coup plotters must come from those groups.
The moab is 9.7 tons of ammonium nitrate. It can vaporize things a distance of a few hundred meters...And the Air Force said they would have a larger 13 ton version built by this Feb. Dropped from possibly a C-17 at extremly high altitude, and it's gps guided it hell it could possibly of been one.
Still your point is valid, the translators might be doing a bit of medical/psychological evaluation on the side.
With secretive regimes it is very important to gage the medical/mental state of the supreme leader. It helps with timing political moves, and with the ongoing negotiations. So I would not be surprised if the translators have a bit of medical/psych training on the side from their secret service.
If it was an assassination attempt, I figure it's some von Stauffenberg type who is trying to save his country from its lunatic leader.
Here is the report (in Japanese today): http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/711503.cms
Confirmed that in North Korea, ALL CELL PHONES WERE ORDERED TO BE SURRENDERED TO AUTHORITIES. REPEAT, ALL CELLPHONES ORDERED TO BE SURRENDERED.
FURTHER, CONTACTS WITH FOREIGNERS TO BE LIMITED OR STOPPED.Mandate sent down by the Party last week.
Looks like it could have been a PRC-US plot, or purely PRC or domestic dissidents, to assassinate Kim Jong il.
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20040601-00000380-jij-int
I really hated that they missed. Now things will get really interesting. This story is also consistent with the construction of 400 km wall and traps in Sino-N. Korean border.
On the other hand, Kim Jong-il is trying to look unaffected by allowing in foreign aid-workers to the blast site and meeting Koizumi.
FYI, take a loot at Replies #117,#118,and #119.
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