North Korea explains the explosion ‘A mountain was demolished’

SEOUL – The gigantic explosion detected four days ago in a mountainous region of North Korea near the border with China was due to works for the construction of a hydroelectric plant. This was said by a senior official of the North Korean foreign ministry to a delegation from Great Britain led by Deputy Foreign Minister Bill Rammel, who has been visiting Pyongyang since last Saturday. The explosion was revealed yesterday by the South Korean media, citing unspecified Chinese press sources that had hinted at a possible nuclear test.

According to information arriving in Seoul from diplomatic sources, it was the North Korean foreign minister Paek Nam Sun who revealed the ‘mystery’ of the explosion in Rammell. “It was an explosion to demolish part of a mountain in view of the construction of the hydro-electric plant,” said the minister.

All day yesterday rumors had been circulating about a possible nuclear test or about a possible explosion due to an accident in a military facility or in a North Korean missile base.

However, the South Korean government had been very cautious denying that it could be an atomic test and claiming that it took time to assess the nature of the explosion or explosions.
So far, the official media of Pyongayng have made no mention of the “giant explosion”.

September 13, 2004