North Korea:Two explosions,on the night of 09/08,and the early morning of 09/09(Explosion Update)

Yonhapnews ^ | 09/12/04 | N/A

[TigerLikesRooster]

/begin my translation

North Korea: Two signs of explosions, on the night of 09/08, and the early morning of 09/09

A government source disclosed on Sept. 12 that two seismic activities were detected on the night of Sept. 8 and the early morning of Sept. 9, from the explosion at Kim Hyong-jik County, Yanggang Province, N. Korea.

According to the source, both S. Korean and Chinese earthquake monitoring stations picked up from Yanggang Province area of N. Korea, " seismic activities presumably related to two explosions, one at 11pm on 09/08, and the other at 1am on 09/09."

Earlier, another key government figure revealed, "The incident occurred on the night of 09/08. Our government(S. Korean gov.) noticed a sign of trouble on the early morning of 09/09. That is pretty close to what happened. Before the mushroom cloud was observed on the morning of 09/09, we detected another sign of trouble."

/end my translation

[rdl6989]

Ping!

[Jet Jaguar]

What about Japan? they are due east.

[The Raven]

Atomic Activity in North Korea Raises Concerns

"...President Bush and his top advisers have received intelligence reports ... describing a confusing series of actions by North Korea ... could indicate the country is preparing to conduct its first test explosion of a nuclear weapon

Blast, Mushroom Cloud Reported in N. Korea

"...Citing an unidentified source in Beijing, Yonhap said the explosion happened on Thursday in Yanggang province near the border with China. The damage and crater left by the explosion in Kim Hyong Jik county was big enough to be noticed by a satellite..."

[zarf]

Are these explosions occuring at night?

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #22

If they had fallouts, they will scream to the world about it. And their ultra-rightwing would have gone ballistic by now. So apparently they did not.

[Jet Jaguar]

roger that.

[Jet Jaguar]

interesting question.

[GailA]

NO, send them some enviro whackos.

[Snapple]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15335-2004Sep12.html

This snippet from the WP seems to link it with a missile facility:

In 1998, a North Korea defector provided information to South Korean and U.S. intelligence officials that the Pyongyang government keeps a missile launching facility, leading to some speculation in Seoul that the explosion may have involved a missile accident. The location of the blast also led some analysts to discount a nuclear test, given that it took place so close to North Korea's border with its closest ally, China.

[arthurus]

Why do you think it is more likely an accident or sabotage? Why not a test? I am very curious.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #30

(1)two successive explosions 2 hours apart. That does not look like a nuke test.

(2)A large mushroom-like cloud at the site but no major radioactive fallouts detected

(3)If it was a test, N. Korea would announce it in a grand fashion. That is their pattern. Everybody will find it out if they do a test. So why not go ahead and make a dramatic announcement to maximize their political leverage out of it.

[longjack]

This is a report from Germany:

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SPIEGEL ONLINE - 12. September 2004, 9:56
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,317732,00.html

Worrisome Incident
 
Mysterious large explosion in North Korea

Was it an accident or actually an atomic bomb test? As has just now been announced, what is a likely gigantic explosion occured in North Korea on Thursday. According to agency reports, satellite photos show a kilometre-wide mushroom cloud rising. However, the South Korean government has declared a nuclear test as improbable.

Seoul - The South Korean news agency Yonhap is saying that the gigantic explosion shook the remote Yanggang province in northeast North Korea on Thursday. Thursday was the 56th anniversary of the founding of North Korea.

The agency reported, referring to unnamed sources in Beijing, that after the explosion satellites had filmed a mushroom-shaped cloud with a diameter of up to four kilometers. The mountainous area houses rocket silos.

The strength of the explosion was most likely greater than the explosion at the North Korean rail-station Ryongchon on April 22nd. In the train accident, close to 170 people were killed. About 1300 people were injured. The official North Korean media finally reported the incident two days later.

Forest fire, accident or test?

REUTERS/ DigitalGlobe

Satellite picture of the rail accident in Ryongchon in April: So far, there have been no reports, statements or pictures, from North Korea about the recent incident

Südkoreas South Korea's unification minister, Chung Dong Young, described it as improbable that this event deals with a nuclear weapon's test.

According to sources, the explosion at the border to China wasn't an accident, Yonhap reported. According to other descriptions, it has to do with a forest fire. A representative of the U.S. government in Washington described that it is unclear what has happened in North Korea.

The "New York Times" reported on Sunday that the government of U.S. president George W. Bush has recently received secret service information, whereby North Korea possibly is preparing for its first nuclear weapon's test. The US believes that North Korea could have enough plutonium for the production of eight atomic bombs. South Korea, the USA, China, Russia and Japan are try to bring the stalled talks concerning a solution to the crisis over North Korea's atom program back to life again.
 

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© SPIEGEL ONLINE 2004
Alle Rechte vorbehalten
Vervielfältigung nur mit Genehmigung der SPIEGELnet GmbH

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"Spiegel-Online"....Rätselhafte Großexplosion in Nordkorea

Translated by longjack

[Rebelbase]

This lack of verifiable information reminds me of the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

[struggle]

"(I know, Seagal's a scumbag. But still it was an awesome weapon! 'Bout the only thing I liked about that movie, apart from the twisted computer geek.)"

Seagal left a wonderful woman and daughter here in Japan to become a Hollywood star. The Aikido community should go and rough him up to teach him a lesson. Last time he was here in Japan to visit his family, he leered at his daughter and said "If I was only 20 years younger, I would date you."

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #33

Thanks for your post. It appears that the news is getting around.

[Straight Vermonter]

Rods From God

According to the Space Command’s Strategic Master Plan, by 2025, the United States will have developed the capability to strike any target on Earth within minutes. To that end, the Pentagon is developing a space-based arsenal. These Star Wars weapons include laser-armed satellites—in military lingo, SBLs (Space-Based Lasers)—that will shoot down an enemy’s earth-launched missiles, destroy hostile satellites, and attack Earth-based enemy installations. Also on the drawing board are un-manned satellite gunships that would smash earthly targets with non-explosive tungsten rods. Such projectiles, known as “Rods from God,” would be so hard and traveling so fast that they could penetrate and destroy a four-story underground bunker.

Get some!

[Indie]

Danke!!

I wish I knew German..

[We Happy Few]

Paging Madelaine Albright. Paging Madelaine Albright. Please pick up one of the glowing courtesy telephones.

[steveegg]

Paging Madelaine Albright. Paging Madelaine Albright. Please pick up one of the glowing courtesy telephones.

Halfbright's going to be on Meet the Depressed (I wish it would have been Fox News Sunday, but Richard Holbrooke will be fielding the brickbats there.