Posted on 09/12/2004 7:48:16 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
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It was reported that there was a massive explosion Thursday around the town of Yongjo-ri, Kim Hyong-jik County, Ryanggang Province. U.S. Department of State, sources familiar with North Korea and the Korean government all confirmed the explosion.
A high-ranking government official said Sunday, “It is true that a large mushroom cloud about 3.5 to 4 km in diameter was observed by a satellite at around 11:00 a.m. Thursday. It was not a nuclear test, but the explosion seemed to be three times bigger than the one that took place during the Ryongchon Station accident,” and added, “Both U.S. and Korean intelligence authorities are investigating what caused the explosion.”
Chong Wa Dae Spokesman Kim Jong-min said, “We noticed the explosion right after it took place and reported it to the president in writing during a National Security Council meeting. But we cannot decide the nature of the accident yet.”
The accident took place in a mountainous region 1,500 meter above sea level around Yongjo-ri, where it is known that there were many munitions factories nearby. In particular, the exact spot of explosion is only 10km away southwest from the Yongjo-ri base for Rodong 1 and 2 missiles and some 30km away from the Sino-Korean border.
There is much talk about the cause of the explosion. The government official said, “If a nuclear test causes an explosion, we can detect it by reading satellite data. Thus, the recent explosion in North Korea was not caused by a nuclear test.” The intelligence authorities assume that an ammunition depot with over 1,000 tons of dynamite or an ammunition car may have exploded, or there may have been a chain explosion of chemical material or a big fire. Some Chinese sources argue that a massive explosion took pace in a munitions factory. Hong Sun-jik, director at the Hyundai Economic Institute said, “Other than the assumption that it may be a simple accident that took place due to old facilities, we cannot exclude the possibility that the explosion may have taken place due to the lack of control of the Kim Jong-il regime, or it may have been connected to a secret feud over the successor of Kim Jong-il following the rumor of death of Kim’s wife, Koh Young-hee.”
Also, some strongly argue that it is not a simple accident because it took place on Sept.9, the North’s foundation day, which is considered a very important national holiday. Others argue that with Korea’s nuclear experiments in the past at issue in the international community, it could be a false explosion by North Korea to intensify the Korea’s nuclear issue. In other words, the North intentionally caused the explosion to deliver a message to the international community.
The government official said, “We will be able to know the exact cause only after North Korea makes an official statement or intelligence authorities announces the results of their analysis.”
(Choi Byung-mook, bmchoi@chosun.com )
The world will KNOW soon whether it is nuclear or not.
What NK says about it is completely immaterial.
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I agree.
That article waas meant as humor and has now been labeled as such. There has been no official statement from NK.
That's an untrustworthy source. The blast is old and no one is putting up rad warnings. Check weather sites to see where the rad would have gone. Also, no one is going to test nukes near their ammo factories and dumps.
For comparison, GlobalSecurity.org reports that the smallest nuclear blast, the five tests by Pakistan in response to India's nuclear test, measured up to 5.0 on the Richter scale. http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/pakistan/nuke-chron.htm
CNN says those blasts measured 4.6: http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/asiapcf/9805/30/pakistan.nuclear/
The two conventional explosions on the doomed Russian submarine Kursk measured 3.5 and 1.5 on the Richter scale:
http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/europe/08/18/russian.submarine.05/
1 Full Legislative Day Left Until The AWB Expires
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1213592/posts?page=757#757
around 3 a.m. Eastern US time this morning, (at my post #757,) I indicated my analysis of where this explosion was. I was apparantly on target. Yongjo-ri site of Taepodong missile production.
TLR: thanks so much for keeping us up to date on this
Congrats, Grandpa!
IF you want the answer, watch The History Channel in 2044. They will be carrying a special about how we won the war on terrorism and the segment on North Korea will fill in the rest of the details about our clandestine effort to bring down North Korea without having an overt war.
Wouldn’t satellites or other electronic equipment be able to detect a large electromagnetic pulse if it was a nuke?
Here’s a video of the accident at the PEPCON rocket fuel pant where a large quantity of ammonium perchlorate detonated. They estimate the second blast was equivalent to 1.5 million pounds of TNT. http://www.exponent.com/multimedia/movies/hend_lg.mov (1.8 MB)
Yup, I think it was US. Our gov is way too calm about this.
Shop accident ping.
This sounds like the most feasible explanation I have heard on this post today.
I'll tell you what, North Korea makes me nervous. Their have been statements from our high level intelligence for years they already have 3-4 nuclear weapons. They don't have to reach LA or San Francico as they threaten. We have two major cities and a hell of a lot of oil in Alaska. Better hurry up with that missle shield...
BTTT
Hmmm, could there be some sabotage going on within the military?
MOAB strke from a USAF B-2
Well, GW told us some time ago that there would be many victories in the war against terror that we would never know about. Hmmm.
B-2 cannot carry a MOAB. MOABs are carried by slow moving transports which would be easy targets for the dense North Korean air defence system. Please guys this explosion was not any military action carried out by US forces.
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