A picture on the assumed explosion site in North Korea's Ryanggang Province taken by satellite Arirang 1 at 10: 59 a.m. Wednesday. /provided by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute
- Satellite Photos Should Reveal Causes of Ryanggang Explosion
Although pictures of the explosion site in North Korea's Kim Hyong-jik County, Ryanggang Province were finally obtained through the camera of a domestic satellite on Wednesday, six days since the explosion, the truth has hidden itself under a much more complicated mystery. Since the quality of the pictures is too low to distinguish even for experts, it has become much harder to grasp the truths of the explosion as there are many experts who are having hard time finding any traces of an explosion. Although some of them said that there seemed to be a few traces of an explosion, they agreed that it was hard to confirm as the quality of the pictures was poor.
In order to obtain the results of more accurate satellite picture interpretation, specialists in military and intelligence agencies should participate in the work. The government, however, is still delaying the work of interpretation. "Only the experts of the aerial photograph interpretation department of intelligence headquarters could clarify it," stated the Ministry of National Defense (MND). MND added, however, that "An official request from the MND and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) must be brought forward to mobilize the staff, who work at a secret facility in Yongsan Garrison."
On the other hand, some government circles are changing their opinions from their earlier assertion of a large scale explosion, stating "There may have been no explosion at all." National Security Council deputy head Lee Jong-seok said Wednesday, "Although it is not accurate, we are currently regarding the assertion of North Korea as positive or that some sort of natural phenomenon occurred," adding, "I've heard it was a phenomenon that could happen even if a small tank-lorry exploded."
National Intelligence Service (NIS), which is known to have obtained the earliest satellite pictures, reported to the National Assembly's Intelligence Committee about the incident, that "There is still some possibility that North Korea conducted a blasting operation to set up a hydroelectric dam near Kim Hyong-jik County, and a unique styled cloud could be mistakenly perceived as an explosion in relation to the weather condition of that day." It added, "We will continue tracing." According to the request of the committee, NIS held a breakfast meeting Wednesday to explain the incident. Different from what was first said, there wasn't any large scale explosion, and there was a high possibility that it was a normal blasting operation for a hydroelectric dam North Korea asserted, said NIS.