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 )
Sure that's likely. On the anniversary of the communist regime, 2 blast in one night just happen to occur, by accident, that are in the kiloton range.
People, they tried a nuke shot and it was a squib. Probably still have trouble with those finicky implosion lenses...
Just the purest possible horsefeathers. What's to stop them? "Oh, it would pollute". Like they give a rat's tail. They starve their own people to death in the millions without batting an eye.
It could be the beginnings of a military coup. One can pray.
I always claimed it was a fireworks factory. but I could be wrong.
B-2 cannot carry a MOAB
Okay, then USAF something else, like Deep Penetrating JDAM. Or Chinese?
Not likely. Any airborne target would have received AAA fire, at a minimum.
My bet is on spec ops.
Go ROKA -with a little help from your friends.
:-)
er trial lawyers to sue the hell out of the N Korean leaders."
_________________________________________
Ha ha. I know you know you were right the first time. :)
And I'm suppose to believe NK why???
TerroristWarning.com Incident Update 09/12/2004
# 1
Regarding reports of a 4 km ( 2.5 miles in diameter) Mushroom cloud seen at the site of an apparent explosion near one of North Korea's missile bases...
Initial news reports included speculation that North Korea may have tested a nuclear device. In the last week the DPRK warned of a nuclear arms race, indicated they were unlikely to participate in nuclear talks, and there were reports that Washington DC had received ' confusing bits of intelligence' that suggested North Korea may be preparing to test their nuclear capabilities.
Since those initial reports came out, other reports have quoted U.S. officials of saying that it is unlikely that the mushroom cloud was caused by a nuclear detonation. They suggested perhaps the cloud is the result of a forest fire, or some sort of accident. South Korea has reported no seismic activity to indicate a nuclear blast, and our own research has failed to find any significant seismic activity in the region at the pertinent time.
We have no idea at this time what caused the mushroom cloud, if in fact it is a mushroom cloud, some reports now indicate otherwise. If North Korea had successfully tested an above ground nuke, one would think they would be proudly touting it all over the news as they are prone to doing. We found nothing on North Korean news sites that would indicate they tested a nuclear weapon. We also found nothing to indicate any major accidents such as a recent train explosion there which killed many people. We wonder whether it is a coincidence that this blast ocurred on the 56th anniversay of the communist regime. And we can only wonder why news of the blast has taken 3 days to reach the public since American, Russian, and Chinese satellites would have nearly instantly picked up the heat signature of the blast and identified whether or not it was nuclear.
What are the possibilities? Perhaps the DPRK decided to test a a nuclear device to announce to the world on its anniversary that it will definitely be joining the nuclear club. Perhaps, in view of recent intelligence, the USA or some other country used a small tactical nuclear weapon or a very large conventional weapon on their missile base to prevent them from joining the nuclear club. Maybe it really was just a big train explosion, or perhaps it was just a forest fire. You decide. Below are the more recent news reports...
[Yonhap] SOUTH KOREA - Presidential Office Dismisses Report of N.K. Nuclear Bomb Test
http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engnews/20040912/300100000020040912155846E0.html
[Yonhap] SOUTH KOREA - Seoul, Washington Rule out Nuclear Test in N.K. Blast
http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engnews/20040912/301100000020040912155022E9.html
[Reuters] NORTH KOREA - US Says N.Korea Blast Unlikely to Have Been Nuclear
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20040912_10.html
[Reuters] SOUTH KOREA - No tremors reported after North Korea blast
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/040912/325/f2ez0.html
[Reuters] NORTH KOREA - N.Korea blast near missile base
"Yongjori base, which lies about 20 km (12.4 miles) from the Chinese border, consists of a dozen tunnels for storing, deploying and launching medium-range missiles that are capable of hitting Japan, NTI said"
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=581652&src=rss/uk/worldNews§ion=news
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it was Bush's fault
It sounds more and more like there was a massive ammunition dump explosion. And a conventional explosion measuring in the thousands of tons equivalent of TNT range has happened before: the destruction of the cargo ship Mont Blanc in the harbor of Halifax, Nova Scotia on December 6, 1917. In that explosion, it had the explosive force of a 3 kT tactical nuclear warheard--which came with a hair's breadth of wiping out the entire town of Halifax itself.
There is still speculation today about what happened in Port Chicago, CA.
A single crater was left behind by the blast, as if all the explosives on the ship were rigged to go together.
Even the military's reports on the incident are inconclusive as to cause.
This baby came so fast that we didn't get a chance to be part of the delivery room "festivities", like last time, but such a quick delivery was a blessing for my dear daughter-in-law. We stayed up there four days and REALLY had a great time, especially with out new little granddaughter. We just got home about an hour ago.
Her name is Sabre (say´- bree), and was born eight pounds, zero ounces with brown hair and TBD eye color and a very gentle and sweet disposition (given the genetic makeup of her grandfather, that last part left us all a bit baffled).
I tried explaining to my DiL that the Bible says I don't have to change her diapers (Lev. 18:10). She said "cute, but don't think you're getting off that easy!" Since my wife and I had only raised boys, my DiL explained all that was entailed in cleaning up a little girl baby when changing her diapers. I said, "no way, I'm not doing that", to which all three responded, "oh yes you are"!
Damn, raising boys was so much less complicated!
--Boot Hill
Don't know where you're coming from, Gramps. Girls are much easier, in my view, when it comes to changing diapers. No Old Faithful syndrome to worry about. And they're also much less "spazzy" than boys.
I'll worry about the teen years later. :-)
Rugged terrain...yet, this was said (by NK) to be related to the building of a dam...yet, on the map...where the heck is the river or source for the dam?
About 6 years ago, the young daughters of a close friend "adopted" my wife and I as "grandparents". From our experience with those girls, I would agree with you and add that for pure, unpretentious love and sweetness, nothing surpasses girl children.
--Boot Hill
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