Posted on 03/22/2010 7:45:59 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
`2004 Explosion Was Attempt on Kim Jong Il`s Life`
MARCH 22, 2010 05:42
A 2004 explosion at a railway station in North Korea was an attempt to assassinate leader Kim Jong Il, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted an analysis as saying yesterday.
“The train explosion at Ryongchon Station in North Pyongan Province on April 22 that year killed nearly 200 people, injured more than 1,500, and destroyed more than 8,000 homes. The explosion is believed to have been an attempt to assassinate Kim,” Xinhua said.
Though Xinhua quoted an analysis, it is quite unusual for the news agency to say the explosion was an assassination attempt on Kim. Xinhua mentioned the incident while reporting on mobile phone use in North Korea.
The report said the number of mobile phone users in North Korea surged to 20,000 a year after mobile telecom service was launched in November 2002. Pyongyang, however, banned the use of mobile phones following the explosion.
Xinhua said the ban was imposed directly by the National Defense Commission, North Korea’s highest-ranking body, due to fears over the leak of news on the explosion outside of the communist country.
In the early days of mobile phone use, only officials at the people’s committee of the ruling Workers’ Party and the ministries of public safety, national security and defense could use them. After the explosion, however, as many as 10,000 mobile handsets were seized by authorities.
The cost of a mobile handset and registration was as high as 1,300 U.S. dollars when the greenback was traded at 1,200 to 1,300 North Korean won, equal to more than 600 months of monthly wages for the average North Korean worker (2.20 dollars).
In the face of mounting complaints over the ban, North Korean authorities re-allowed the use of mobile phones in March last year.
An estimated 120,000 North Koreans use mobile telecom service. Considering North Korea’s population of an estimated 24 million as of 2008, this translates into one handset per 200 people.
Xinhua added that mobile phones have brought about many changes in the lives of North Koreans.
P!
It’s a shame that he survived.
Not mentioned in the article: mobile phones can easily be used to trigger IEDs. That is the way it is often done. This may have been a reason the authorities in the DPRK were so nervous about having that kind of technology around.
I am still skeptical that this was really an assassination attempt. The explosion missed Kim Il Sung’s train by quite a bit, and caused much more collateral damage than would have been necessary to do the job. I think that it was an industrial accident, but one which played into the paranoia of rulers like Kim Jung Il.
I wonder how such a huge explosion managed to miss Kim.
Wow—somehow this method of assassination seems exquisitely North Korean.
Oh, if only it would have succeeded..!!
I had heard the early reports, but didn’t know then what to think —now I do.
NK's weapon's factories are nearby. One of the things manufactured is rocket fuel. So the station could have this kind of cargo stacked up or about to be loaded. The initial explosion could have set off much bigger explosion due to the presence of such chemicals.
Fool! You have him confused with Chuck Norris!
.
Ah, well....now only if they had used a bigger bomb...
I thought this was already established a couple yrs ago
Yes, but not from official organs of any country. What we need to pay attention to is why Chicom bother to mention it now.
Thanks for pinging me.
I remember this one and saw the photos, now we hear the
“rest of the story”.......
Our supersecret NSA data collection center somewhere beneath Utah has grabbed this communication, decrypted same, and I will now attempt to translate:
Go ahead. Make my--the last word is not clear. Perhaps it is balogna sandwich.
Thank you nw_az_granny for the ping.
Yes, I recall the incident and we thought at the time that it was likely an attempt.
You are welcome.
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