North Korean Security Believes Ryongchon Explosion an Assassination Attempt(Cellphones now banned)

Chosun Ilbo ^ | 05/24/04 | Kang Chol-hwan

[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.

[BCR #226]

ping.

Mike

[AmericanInTokyo]

typo on my part in #35. of course my lunch was 10 days ago...not 10 days long...sheesh!

[Boot Hill]

"If this news is indeed true, dead Syrians and the destruction of their cargoes could have been the consolation prizes of sorts. Or was it planned as a two-for-one deal?"

If you include in that a "message to the west" and you have a three-for-one deal.

--Boot Hill

[Boot Hill]

"Ryongchon is pretty close to China. In this border area, you can use a Chinese cell phone, which uses towers in China across the border."

I believe cell coverage is much more limited than that.

--Boot Hill

[tallhappy]

Thanks

[TexasGunLover]

B) Nextel uses satellites in space (thats how 2 way radio works).... no towers

Wrong.

Nextel uses towers just like other cell providers. They work on IDEN technology.

[ASA Vet]

no comment ping

[Boot Hill]

"For this article, there is no corresponding article in Korean. They wrote the English version first. I wonder why?"

Marshall McLuhan: "The Medium is the Message". The medium was English, thus the message is "This one's for you"!

--Boot Hill

[AmericanInTokyo]

Cells floating around just across the NK-China border, over the Yalu river and south of Dandong, PRC in the DPRK (that would be Sinuiju City and of course, Ryongchon further on down the railway line towards Pyongyang), are utilizing two systems right now. One using GSM and the other using Code Division Multiple Access.

Actually, the South Korean telephone units (CDMA) are much more preferable in that area for several reasons. They are also less susceptible to NK jamming. The GSM units can go approximately 15 kms, whereas the CDMA's go 18 kms. (The problem here is that Ryongchon is said to be about 25 kms from the border and hence, those towers. I am not sure if this is line of site or what). I think it should only be a matter of time to see if the Korean Worker's Party had out a party circular demanding seizure of both GSM and CDMA units by everyone, in that area. If so, there would be no other explanation for it than there had been an assassination attempt, and cell phone technology had been used. If such a circular can be brought out intact (and reputable), well, there's one smoking gun for sure.

[Chad_the_Impaler]

NKoreans probably know as little as we do about the cause. They were moving missiles by train. It blows up. Why? The technicians probably weren't sending a detailed play by play back to Pyongyang at the time. The stuff about the train collision and the hanging wires is probably made up.

[Mister Baredog]

Did they misdial for 9 hours????

[Mister Baredog]

Perhaps the "Dear Leader's" paranoia can be encouraged by the CIA. They could start a rumor that his enemies are also trying to infect him with AIDS by supplying him with diseased hookers from Scandinavia of the type that he seems to prefer. He would then have to swear off sex. Then, begin a whispering campaign that his rice may contain ricin. After some months with no phone, no sex and no food, he should be ready to sign just about any treaty put in front of him.

ROTFLMAO!!! That was good, might work.

[Boot Hill]

Hi, AIL, it's been a while. How are you doing?

I read with interest your report about your ROK contact that suggested that Kim Jong-il had been in far closer proximity to the blast than previously disclosed. It became clear to me very early on, that this was no accidental explosion and that the early reports that claimed the President had passed through the area earlier, could not be coincidental (there aren't any), and that those two facts had to be closely tied.

Thanks for the interesting cell range data, that's about what I expected, about 10 miles (if you're lucky). As to whether Ryongchon is close enough to those Chinese cells, I was not sure about the distance either, so I went to MultiMap.com and got the following map. It looks like Ryongchon (Yongchon) is about 15 km from Anmin, China and about 18 km from Langtou, China. I would think that would place them outside any reasonable expectation of coverage by those Chinese cells.

--Boot Hill

[Amerigomag]

Using cellphones to trigger the explosion? They are learning from Jihadis.:)

The PCS handsets used in the Spanish attacks utilized the alarm function of the handset as the trigger. The same trigger could have been accomplished with an electronic kitchen timer. The handsets were used because they are a less suspicious device than an electronic timer upon casual observation.

North Korea is probably banning their use to disrupt the coordination of an attack rather than disable a trigger mechanism.

[Boot Hill]

"The newspaper I refer to is...not an N. Korean newspaper."

The newspaper need not be a conduit for North Korean dis-information, but simply willing to publish stories that contain a special message that is beneficial to South Korea or one of its allies. I would not be surprised to find that KISS was directly or indirectly, the source for this story, as well as the inspiration for publishing it in English.

--Boot Hill

[LibWhacker]

'Course I imagine any electronics buff can build a simple receiver and transmitter out of used parts (or even from scratch if need be). Hoping this is a sign of desperation on Kim's part and that he recognizes powerful forces within N. Korea want him dead.

[tet68]

Since presumeably only the elite leading cadres
HAD cell phones, this must make for a VERY shakey
Lil Kim!

[Boot Hill]

"Everyone who knows bombs..."

LOL!

--Boot Hill

[OahuBreeze]

Thanks. Somebody told me this disappeared from the Choson in the first few hours after posting (haven't looked yet myself.

Hard to know what to believe at this point with all the rumors flying. Personally, initially it seemed too close in timing (at even nine hours) to be an accident, with the immense amount of security that surrounds pumpkin boy's movements (let's not forget why he travels by rail vice air in the first place). After the first 96 hours, however, with no indications of large purges and limited amounts of international access to the explosion site, it seemed unlikely to be anything other than an accident. I dunno. I guess we will see.....